Excessive Coffee Drinking May Carry A Risk Of Stroke

Coffee is a health beverage. That’s where most every study on the subject tends to point. But not every study. And new research from the University of Galway finds that, in terms of stroke risk, excessive amounts of coffee may be as bad or worse for you than things like fizzy drinks and fruit juice.

As reported by Neuroscience News, the findings from the Interstroke research project, “one of the largest international studies of risk factors for stroke, involving almost 27,000 people, in 27 countries, including almost 13,500 people who experienced their first stroke.” Using a global cohort of participants, Interstroke examines the effects what we eat and drink have on stroke risk, and researchers from the University of Galway used the data to look at the effects of four different beverages: fizzy drinks, fruit juice, coffee, and tea.

 

Published in two different studies—one covering fizzy drinks and fruit juice and the other covering coffee and tea—the researchers found that fizzy drinks and fruit juice both were associated with an increased risk of stroke, 22% and 37%, respectively. These risk “increase sharply” when two or more cups a day are consumed, with fruit juice tripling.

When consumed in excess, which is defined as more than four cups, coffee also expressed a 37% increase in stroke instances. Meanwhile, tea was linked with an 18­–29% decrease in risk. But the study does note that consuming any coffee quantity under that over-four mark was not associated with any increased risk.

Another factor in consideration is the inclusion of milk in a drink. When looking at tea, researchers found at that any beneficial effects on stroke were lost when the beverage included milk. Given the popularity of espresso-based milk drinks in coffee culture, this could potentially explain the disparity in effect between coffee and tea, two antioxidant-rich caffeinated beverages.

While these are associations, meaning no causal link has been established between higher level of coffee consumption and increased stroke risk, it is at least worth noting, especially for those individuals with an increased stroke risk via hypertension. Turns out there is too much of a good thing.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.