Now Coffee Is Positively Good for You

The dire warnings about coffee drinking continue to come, at intervals, but they are tempered sometimes with good news. Now, a large study has shown that people who drank six or more cups a day for up to 20 years had a slightly lower risk of developing coronary heart disease than those drinking less than one cup a day. This came from data from 44,000 men and 84,000 women enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-Study and the Nurses’ Health Study, respectively. The results were independent of other risk factors like smoking, diabetes, BMI, and alcohol use.

The likely explanation for this effect is a slight reduction in inflammation in the body, according to the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Coffee is a major source of antioxidants, which is just as well, given the likelihood of heavy coffee drinkers being smokers, and therefore exposed to harmful free radicals. So, if you must smoke, drink plenty of coffee!