Researchers have identified a specific variety of coffee as having remarkable cardiovascular benefits.
Multiple studies have shown that coffee has heart-health benefits, yet research has shown that coffee prepared in specific ways has the most beneficial effects. A new study has identified one variety of coffee as having the potential to protect against cardiovascular disease. Here's what a group of researchers from around the world uncovered.
Researchers from Greece and Algeria—all of whom specialize in cardiovascular health or nutrition—began by recognizing that regular coffee consumption is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in a study published this month in the journal Clinical Nutrition ESPEN (published by the Clinical Society of European Nutrition and Metabolism).
The purpose of this research was to see how instant coffee affected the development of heart disease. To do so, the researchers gathered information from 1,041 male and female individuals aged 39 to 67. (With an average age of 53.6 years). The researchers found that 30% of the people in this group "consumed instant coffee on a regular basis."
They discovered that instant coffee drinkers had reduced systolic blood pressure in an initial calculation. (However, after accounting for several variables, the research team found that this might not be a foolproof method.)
They also identified a link between instant coffee consumption and carotid arterial compliance (according to a 2008 study published in Nature, healthy elasticity in the carotid artery serving as a marker of cardiovascular wellness).
Finally, the current study's authors conclude that "habitual moderate instant coffee consumption" is linked to artery flexibility and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.