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How much coffee is good for your health? What new studies show

2026-08-20 18:43:22Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
How much coffee is good for your health? What new studies show
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For most healthy adults, up to five cups of coffee a day is considered safe – and perhaps even healthy. Here's what new research specifically shows about the health impact.

Coffee and its effects have been scientifically studied for more than 150 years. Opinions about this favorite beverage have changed several times: once coffee was considered an unhealthy habit, another time it was good for health. Now, the American Heart Association (AHA) has reassessed the situation – especially when it comes to heart health.

Coffee and the risk to the heart and blood vessels

According to the association's analysis, for most healthy adults, moderate coffee consumption of up to 400 milligrams of caffeine is not only harmless, but even reduces the risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

According to the AHA, this corresponds to three to five cups of black filtered coffee of approximately 240 milliliters. But the number of cups is only an approximate value: the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) calculates approximately 90 milligrams of caffeine per 200 milliliters of filtered coffee and approximately 80 milligrams per 60 milliliters of espresso.

An analysis of a 2023 UK health database of almost 450,000 people came to similar results. The EFSA also considers up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day to be a safe amount for healthy adults.

Coffee consumption in pregnant women

For pregnant women, EFSA advises a lower limit of 200 milligrams per day. For people with pre-existing conditions, the following applies: illnesses, medications and individual reactions to caffeine may require medical evaluation.

The body can adapt to coffee consumption

Caffeine can increase heart rate and blood pressure in the short term and cause a faster heartbeat or restlessness in people who consume it in large quantities. But long-term research shows a different picture, says Omar Hahad of the Cardiology Center of the University Medical Center in Mainz, Germany.

He explains that the body can adapt to regular consumption, so even those short-term effects become milder. On average, coffee probably also brings benefits to the heart and blood vessels, he concludes.

Here's the important thing: a lot of long-term data comes from observational studies. They can only ever show associations, but never cause-and-effect relationships.

That's why Gregory Marcus, the head of the AHA report's group of authors, warns that coffee should not be understood as a recipe for a long and heart-healthy life: there is no single recommendation for everyone, he explains.

"The way coffee is processed is very different from person to person. That's why you should listen to your body: if you tolerate one cup well, you shouldn't force yourself to drink three."

According to current U.S. guidelines, atrial fibrillation is not a reason to avoid coffee altogether, as regular amounts of caffeine don't increase your risk on average. But there is evidence that coffee can increase your heart rate. That's why anyone who notices irregular heart rhythms after drinking coffee should cut back on its consumption and talk to a doctor about it.

How much coffee is good for your health? What new studies show

A cup of coffee in the morning

Even the timing of consumption may play a role in health: A study published in 2025 that included more than 40,000 American adults found an association with lower overall and cardiovascular disease mortality, especially among people who drank coffee in the morning.

But it's not just the caffeine in coffee that makes the morning wake-up drink so interesting for research. "Coffee is actually a very complex beverage," says Hahad. Coffee contains hundreds of substances, including secondary plant substances, aromas, roasting substances and coffee oils. Caffeine is probably not solely responsible for the observed health benefits, according to Hahad.

Lower risk of diabetes

"Many studies have shown that people who drink coffee regularly have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes - compared to people who drink coffee very rarely or not at all," says Matthias Schulze from the German Institute for Nutrition Research Potsdam-Rehbrücke.

This link was also observed with decaffeinated coffee – compared to people who did not drink coffee, the risk of diabetes with six cups a day was statistically about 33 percent lower.

“This means that it’s probably not the caffeine that’s at work here, but other components that are at least as important,” says Schulze. Chlorogenic acids and other plant substances are being investigated as a possible explanation for this effect.

Pesticide residues in coffee

Recently, reports of pesticides in coffee have caused uncertainty. Jens Schubert from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) explains: “The mere detection of certain plant protection agents in coffee beans is not the same as ‘it is dangerous’ or ‘it is toxic to the consumer’. In the assessments, the risk that a substance may pose is seen as dependent on the amount ingested by the consumer.”

Based on available data, there is no known risk to consumers from coffee, Schubert says.

About two to three percent of the raw coffee samples tested exceeded the limits, Schubert reported. But even that doesn't automatically mean the products are harmful to health. Despite this, these goods are usually withdrawn from circulation.

Coffee is a pleasure, not a medicine

According to current research, for most healthy adults, there is nothing wrong with moderate coffee consumption of up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day.

But this doesn't mean that you should start drinking coffee "preventively" in order to stay healthy longer. Hahad puts it this way: "For most people, coffee is probably primarily a means of enjoyment, not a medicine or a dietary supplement."

Therefore, coffee can fit well into a healthy lifestyle, but it does not replace sleep, a balanced diet and physical activity. /DW


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