Your heart health and lifespan could be boosted by drinking two cups of coffee a day, a new study has found.
The greatest health benefits were found in individuals who drank two or three cups a day compared to those who had none.
These people had a 10 to 15 percent lower risk of developing coronary heart disease, heart failure, a heart rhythm problem, or dying for any reason.
The study was the biggest analysis of its kind, tracking more than 400,000 Brits for at least 10 years.
Coffee's benefits applied to healthy people and those with heart disease, scientists reported.
Researchers say their findings suggest drinking coffee every day shouldn't be discouraged, but rather included as part of a healthy diet.
Coffee beans are packed with over 100 nutritious plant chemicals.
They dampen oxidative stress and inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity and metabolism, explained Prof Kistler.
The biologically active compounds also block absorption of fat into the gut and molecules linked to abnormal heart rhythms.
Overall, participants who downed less than two cups or more than three cups fared less well.
However, the risk of stroke or heart-related death was lowest among those who drank one cup of coffee a day.
Drinking coffee was also associated with a lower risk of death for people who had been diagnosed with an arrhythmia, or irregular heart beat.
For example, those with AFib (atrial fibrillation) where the heart beats rapidly were nearly 20 per cent less likely to die than non-coffee drinkers if they had one cup a day.
Is it okay to drink coffee if you have heart issues?
Senior author Professor Peter Kistler, of the Baker Heart Institute, Melbourne, Australia, said: "Because coffee can quicken heart rate, some people worry that drinking it could trigger or worsen certain heart issues.
"This is where general medical advice to stop drinking coffee may come from.
"But our data suggest that daily coffee intake shouldn't be discouraged, but rather included as a part of a healthy diet for people with and without heart disease.
"We found coffee drinking had either a neutral effect—meaning that it did no harm—or was associated with benefits to heart health."
Prof Kistler added: "Clinicians generally have some apprehension about people with known cardiovascular disease or arrhythmias continuing to drink coffee.
"So they often err on the side of caution and advise them to stop drinking it altogether due to fears that it may trigger dangerous heart rhythms.
"But our study shows that regular coffee intake is safe and could be part of a healthy diet for people with heart disease."
Prof Kistler added: "There is a whole range of mechanisms through which coffee may reduce mortality and have these favourable effects on cardiovascular disease.
"Coffee drinkers should feel reassured that they can continue to enjoy coffee even if they have heart disease. Coffee is the most common cognitive enhancer - it wakes you up, makes you mentally sharper and it's a very important component of many people's daily lives."
The coffee study
The international team used data from the UK BioBank - looking at consumption ranging from up to a cup to more than six cups a day.
They compared levels with heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias), cardiovascular disease and total and heart-related deaths.
In many cases, coffee significantly reduced risks to heart health - regardless of exercise, alcohol, smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure.
The researchers followed 382,535 men and women with an average age of 57 without known heart disease.
Secondly, they included 34,279 individuals who had some form of cardiovascular illness at the outset.
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