DYK #11: Drinking coffee – healthy or health hazard?

Did you know…

That drinking coffee can reduce the risk of having a stroke in women?

Swedish researchers followed a group of 34,670 women (ages 49-83) for about 10 years (all were free of cardiovascular disease or cancer in 1997). They were sorted into subgroups: a group that drank less than one cup of coffee a day, and groups that drank 1-2 cups a day, 3-4 cups a day and a group that drank 5 and more cups a day.

During those 10 years, they documented 1,680 strokes: 1,310 cerebral infarctions/ischemic strokes (caused by blockages), 154 intracerebral hemorrhages (caused by bleeding inside the brain), 79 sub-arachnoid hemorrhages (caused by bleeding on the surface of the brain) and 137 unspecified strokes.

Now you may wonder, “aren’t there a whole bunch of other factors that could influence the risk of stroke”? The researchers, too, considered this, and controlled their results on other risk factors: smoking status, Body Mass Index, history of diabetes, hypertension and alcohol consumption. However, the effect of coffee remained uninfluenced by those factors: coffee consumption was associated with a statistically significant lower risk of total stroke, cerebral infarction and sub-arachnoid hemorrhage.

Their theory is that coffee reduces the risk of stroke because it improves insulin sensitivity (a hormone that regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body).

 

Cup of coffee, anyone? :D How do you prefer your coffee? Black? With sugar?

I prefer latte, personally, and I drink maybe 1-3 cups a day. But I love tea even more so!

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Posted by on Mar 14, 2011 in Did You Know, Neuroscience, Psychology | 19 comments
  • http://cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/ CMStewart

    Black. :) Though not as often as you. Also a tea drinker- all kinds except for chamomile (allergic).

    • Manon Eileen

      Oh man, you and your allergies! :(

      Today I made myself coffee and it tasted so disgustingly sweet, while I didn’t do anything with it, didn’t add any sugar (we don’t even have any)… It was the strangest thing.

      Thanks for stopping by, C.M.!

      • http://cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/ CMStewart

        Black coffee tastes sweet? That’s weird. If other non-sweet food tastes sweet, you may have a medical symptom.

        • Manon Eileen

          Maybe I’m dying :|

          Lol. I actually suspect we forgot to put new coffee in the machine and it tasted funny because it was old O_o

          • Tim

            I am still pretty sure I put in some new coffee! ;)

  • http://www.meandersfit.com M.E. Anders

    Insulin sensitivity is improved by coffee? American researchers should hop on this piece of information – Starbucks could capitalize on this research, too. For me – it’s only organic teas and herbal blends…1 cup of coffee sent me to the ER with a negative response.

    • Manon Eileen

      So it appears! Although that was just a suggestion they made, I guess they would have to do more specific research to be able to make that conclusion for real.
      It would definitely be something I can imagine coffeeshops would use to sell more coffee, lol.

      Sorry to hear you can’t drink coffee – but I guess it’s good you know. And that it’s not used in a lot of products.

      Thanks for stopping by!

  • http://piperbayard.wordpress.com Piper Bayard

    That’s interesting. I would have suspected just the opposite because caffeine contributes to high blood pressure, which contributes to strokes. Do they think it’s the caffeine or the anti-oxidants that give the benefit?

    • Manon Eileen

      Yep, it’s the anti-oxidants!

      Thanks for stopping by, Piper!

  • http://indiegamedesign.blogspot.com Patrick Thunstrom

    Very interesting study.

    • Manon Eileen

      Thanks for stopping by, Patrick :)

  • http://jeremyduley.blogspot.com/ Jeremy Duley

    I never got into coffee. Not sure if it’s because I grew up in a hot climate (Florida), I’ll take some sweet ice tea though!

    • Manon Eileen

      Hi Jeremy, thanks for stopping by :)

      I didn’t get into coffee until last year, when I started working at an office (temporarily). I still drink lots of tea though! And lucky you for growing up in a hot climate… It never really gets nice and warm here (the Netherlands) – it either gets incredibly hot and humid, or it rains X_X

  • http://mobiusasi.wordpress.com/ Henderson

    This is great to hear! I do drink a lot of coffee (~4-5 cups/day).

    But i’m wondering how anti-oxidants work differently in females and males. Did the study make any analogies about how coffee/anti-oxidants affect men?

    • Manon Eileen

      Hi Henderson, thanks for stopping by!

      This research was done only with women. So men weren’t even included on the trial… I wouldn’t have a clue what the effects are on men and if they would be any different! Perhaps so, perhaps not…

      Obviously, the researchers didn’t conclude anything about men…

  • http://doingthewritething.wordpress.com Sonia M.

    At least I have a good excuse for that cup of coffee. LOL.

    • Manon Eileen

      Totally! ^_^

  • xxxxxx

    hye!  i hope can use ur coffe picture for my contest! thnks!

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Well, I got it from Google Images myself… You could download it and upload it to Picasa or whatever? ^_^That’s fine with me.