If you’re like me, coffee is one of the few constant joys of life. A new report out today should put your mind at ease if you’ve ever been worried about your habit’s effects on the heart—so long as you’re already drinking in moderation, that is. Experts with the American Heart Association have issued a new scientific statement on the link between coffee and caffeine consumption and cardiovascular disease. Consuming up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, or roughly 5 eight-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee, is safe for your heart, they concluded, and may even lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in some people. On the other hand, high levels of caffeine consumption from sources like energy drinks could actually be dangerous. “For the vast majority of individuals that currently enjoy consuming caffeinated coffee or tea, they should be reassured that these substances almost certainly are not increasing their cardiovascular risks and may instead have health benefits,” Gregory Marcus, chief of the volunteer writing group behind the statement and a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told Gizmodo in an email.
Just how much coffee a day is safe? Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed drugs on Earth, with coffee being its primary delivery method for many people. Though there has been some worry about the adverse health effects of regular coffee/caffeine consumption, most research these days is optimistic. A study this past February, for instance, found that caffeinated coffee and tea may be associated with a lower risk of dementia later in life.
