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Drink up! Coffee may be good for your heart
Heart disease is still the number-one killer in America, often striking without warning.
But a new study suggests we might have a surprising ally in our fight against this deadly disease: it could lower your heart risk.
Americans drink about 400 million cups of coffee per day and new research suggests our love might be rewarded, especially among women.
Scientists from Harvard University and Spain analyzed coffee drinking in two large, long-running studies - one on male physicians and the other on female nurses.
They found that women who drank 2-3 cups of coffee per day had a 25% reduced risk of death from heart disease compared to non-coffee drinkers. Those drinking 4-5 cups per day had a 34% reduced risk.
For men, the association was not as strong, but researchers saw a trend toward reduced heart deaths for coffee-drinking men as well.
Decaffeinated coffee appeared to offer the same benefits, so doctors say it's not caffeine that is causing the reduction in death risk. They suspect coffee could lower inflammation and say more study is needed.
In the meantime, experts say people shouldn't start drinking coffee to help their hearts, but for coffee lovers it's bottoms up.
Article courtesy of wzzm13abc.com
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