Coffee slashes stroke risk in women

Boston, February 17: Who knew that the bitter tasting caffeinated beverage was actually good for health? Drinking coffee, 4 or more cups a day, lowers a woman’s risk of stroke by 20 percent, a new study suggests.

The study, to be published in the March 3 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association derives its conclusion from a 25 years long study tracking habits of avid coffee drinkers.

To gauge the extent of benefits conferred by regular coffee intake, the researchers from the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, looked into medical records of over 80,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study between 1980 and 2004. None of the participants had a history of stroke, heart disease, diabetes or cancerdefine at the start of the study.

In all, seven food-habit surveys were carried out during the study’s course. Upon tabulating the results, researchers found that 84 percent women consumed caffeinated coffee, 78 percent drank tea and 54 percent drank caffeinated sodas.

During the study’s course 2,280 strokes were documented.

Interestingly, drinking coffee conferred great benefits, with more consumption translating into more protection. Women who drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day, stood at 19 percent lower risk of stroke on an average, as opposed to women who downed less than one cup a month. The stroke risk lowered by 20 percent among women who drank four or more cups a day.

However, smoking came across as the most detrimental habit. While women nonsmokers who drank four or more cups of coffee a day enjoyed a 43 percent reduction in stroke risk, the reduction in stroke risk lowered to 3 percent among women smokers.

"The potential benefits of coffee cannot counterbalance the detrimental effects smoking has on health" Esther Lopez-Garcia, study’s lead author emphasized.

Moreover, besides smoking, having high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol also neutralized the potential benefits of coffee.

But what part of coffee played the principal role in stroke risk reduction? Caffeine? No! Answered the researchers. Drinking caffeinated tea or caffeinated soft drinks failed to deliver similar health benefits as coffee.

"This finding supports the hypothesis that components in coffee other than caffeine may be responsible for the potential beneficial effect of coffee on stroke risk" Lopez-Garcia highlighted. "Antioxidantsdefine in coffee lower inflammation and improve blood vessel function."

But women should not merely indulge in coffee drinking as a measure to reduce stroke risk, caution researchers. Engage in more physical activity, reduce salt intake and stop smoking, they advise.