Coffee won’t give you a stroke – study

Coffee lovers can rejoice as their beloved beverage is back on the list of safe and healthy things to eat. Experts from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) divided 8,412 people into three groups for a study that showed the drink is not bad for your heart.

Some previous studies had raised doubts on the safety of the beverage, with some saying coffee may stiffen arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke. As a result, those researchers suggested drinkers cut down their consumption.

Now more comprehensive research, part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF),  has found that drinking five cups a day, and even up to 25, was no worse for the arteries than drinking less than a cup a day.

In the study the first group was asked to drink less than one cup of coffee a day, the second was of made up of those who drink between one and three cups a day, and the third was those who drink more than three.

All the participants in the latest study underwent MRI heart scans and infrared pulse wave tests, and the results held true even after factors such as age, weight and smoking status were taken into account.

Prof Metin Avkiran, associate medical director at the BHF, said the study “rules out one of the potential detrimental effects of coffee on our arteries”.

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