Coffee and tea drinkers can, and should, sip worry-free: Regular caffeine consumption doesn’t cause heart palpitations, and likely has cardiovascular benefits, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of California San Francisco looked at 1,388 people who were taking part in a larger heart study, specifically 60 percent of a group who said that caffeinated drinks — coffee, tea and chocolate — were part of their daily routine.
The researchers looked for heart irregularities — premature ventricular and atrial contractions — in the participants over a year, but found that there were no differences among the participants, average age 72, regardless of their caffeine intake.
“In general, consuming caffeinated products every day is not associated with having increased … arrhythmia but cannot specify a particular amount per day,” lead researcher Dr. Gregory Marcus wrote in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Their findings go against the conventional clinical wisdom in the medical world that caffeine causes palpitations, which can lead to more chronic problems including heart failure or arrhythmia.
In fact, they discovered that “habitual coffee drinkers” actually have less chance of developing coronary artery disease.
“Recommendations advising against the regular consumption of caffeinated products to prevent disturbances of the heart’s cardiac rhythm should be reconsidered, as we may unnecessarily be discouraging consumption of items like chocolate, coffee and tea that might actually have cardiovascular benefits,” according to Marcus.
The study didn’t look into the effects of powdered caffeine used in energy drinks, but the Food and Drug Administration has warned Americans against its potentially deadly side effects.
Just one teaspoon of the powder is equivalent to the caffeine in 28 regular cups of coffee.
The study was funded by the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Joseph Drown Foundation, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute on Aging.