Everyone wants to provide their elders with the best diet possible, is coffee one of them? Coffee, a beverage that is popular among all age groups, has been a convention for a very long time, there are people who crave it calling themselves coffee addicts. Coffee might even improve heart health, according to the Researchers. Although until now it was a mystery how the caffeine in coffee improved health. This was brought into clarity from a study, published in the journal PLOS Biology about mice.

Researchers studied heart attacks in mice, and from that study, they experimented and evaluated how the cardiovascular system in the mice reacted with the intake of caffeine. They discovered that a specific protein’s movement into the heart cells that were influenced by caffeine intake. These were the p27 proteins that helped endothelial cells of the heart to move because of which these cells line the blood vessels. This suggests that caffeine may activate a protein that supports healthy, elastic blood cells.

From the study, it was also found that heart cells were prevented from dying during a heart attack by the p27 proteins stimulated by caffeine.

The risk of heart attack or stroke increases exponentially as we age, and as our blood vessels harden because of it. A daily cup of coffee may slow down the degradation of the cardiovascular system by the healthy movement of the heart’s endothelial cells.

Other Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee

Antioxidant properties: We face oxidative damage as we age, Caffeine also works as an antioxidant, it helps to fight against these kinds of health-related problems and also can improve health in numerous ways, especially as we age. Its benefits are vast and some of them include:

Improving cognitive functions: Caffeine may delay or even prevent dementia age-related cognitive impairments which were made clear by another study that involved people from middle age into their seventies and beyond, and it was found that caffeine may lower a senior’s lifetime risk of dementia from the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) study.

• Lower risk of heart failure and stroke. One of the studies found that a cup of coffee per week could prevent stroke risk and heart failure.

• A longer lifespan.  People who regularly drank coffee had a lower overall risk of death which was found from a joint AARP-NIH study.

• Improvised mental health. Coffee also offers a mood boost that could help us feel energetic and alerted and could even lower depression state.

• Diminish the risk of cancer. Drinking 4 cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of developing oral cancer, which was proven from another study.

Risks of Drinking Coffee

Caffeine is classified as a stimulant, so if people drink coffee, the caffeine in it makes some people feel jittery or anxious, as it increases activity in your central nervous system.  Some other risks of drinking coffee include:

• Diarrhea and gastrointestinal problems.  Coffee’s high acid concentration may also make our internal acid reflux worse and can even speed up digestion.

• Rapid heart rate, a problem seen in people with heart arrhythmias.

• Dehydration. Which can cause or even worsen bladder infections by stressing the kidneys.

• Increased blood pressure levels. This effect may be detrimental in people with high blood pressure or serious cardiovascular health issues even though it’s temporary.

Tips for Healthy Coffee Consumption

For most adults,  roughly four cups of coffee 400 milligrams of caffeine a day are safe. Which is roughly about 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. From most research, it’s advised to have caffeine consumption at “moderate” of three to five cups a day.

People who take ephedrine, echinacea, and theophylline may be very vulnerable to the effects of caffeine, so they require a doctor’s guidance.  For a certain set of  people, even limited caffeine consumption could cause health problems and for some, even heavy caffeine consumption has no problematic effects

Caffeine-related side effects may be caused in case if you have:

• Migraines

• Insomnia

• Urinary incontinence or frequent urination

• Muscle tremors

• Stomach problems

• Anxiety or restlessness

 Author: Team 60Plus India

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