Coffee is good for the arteries, and may help prevent heart disease and stroke, a new study has found.
According to Quartz.com, Korean researchers studied 25,000 people at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Seoul, and found arterial calcium buildup was lowest in those who reported drinking 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day. The group with the next lowest calcification was comprised of people drinking between one and three cups a day.
When they published their findings in the British Medical Journal's Heart publication, they made it clear that while moderate coffee usage seemed to be good for the cardiovascular system, those drinking more than five cups a day had the highest risk of heart disease.
The new report comes just a week after it was announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services are likely to release the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
In a preliminary report, the nation's top doctors said there was little to no risk associated with drinking up to five cups of coffee per day. Moreover, they too found that moderate coffee consumption was associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Some evidence even suggests that caffeine may protect against the development of Parkinson's disease.
Like U.S. doctors, British doctors were quick to point out that recent pronouncements on the positive effects of coffee are preliminary. They also said cream and sugar used in coffee should be considered for their own health effects.
"While this study does highlight a potential link between coffee consumption and lower risk of developing clogged arteries, more research is needed to confirm these findings and understand what the reason is for the association," Victoria Taylor, of the British Heart Foundation,
told the BBC.
"We need to take care when generalising these results because it is based on the South Korean population, who have different diet and lifestyle habits to people in the UK."