Daily coffee doesn't contribute to extra heartbeats

Necking lots of coffee doesn't increase the risk of heart attack or stroke after all, according to a new study.

Contrary to the current clinical belief, regular caffeine consumption does not lead to extra heartbeats, which, while common, can lead in rare cases to heart-or stroke-related morbidity and mortality, according to the UC San Francisco researchers.

The study, which measured the chronic consumption of caffeinated products over a 12-month period, rather than acute consumption, is the largest to date to have evaluated dietary patterns in relation to extra heartbeats.

Senior author Gregory Marcus said that clinical 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. "Given our recent work demonstrating that extra heartbeats can be dangerous, this finding is especially relevant."

"This was the first community-based sample to look at the impact of caffeine on extra heartbeats, as previous studies looked at people with known arrhythmias," said lead author Shalini Dixit. "Whether acute consumption of these caffeinated products affects extra heartbeats requires further study."

The study appears in the Journal of the American Heart Association.