Cheers to Your Cups! Study Uncovers Surprising Heart-Protective Benefits of Coffee

The effects of coffee

Among the different hot drinks consumed in France, coffee is by far the most popular, since 8 out of 10 French people consume it, according to a report from Statista published in 2024.

Whether taken in the morning upon waking up, during breaks at work or even after meals, coffee is as popular on the one hand thanks to its taste, although it has bitter notes, but also thanks to caffeine, a stimulating molecule that is found naturally in coffee, but also in other plants such as tea or cocoa.

Caffeine has the ability to block adenosine, a neurotransmitter that promotes drowsiness, making you feel more energetic and focused. A feeling which is also explained by the release of adrenaline which gives a “boost” of energy, thanks to this molecule.

Coffee is also known, due to the caffeine, as a drink that can slightly increase heart rate and blood pressure. If many see coffee as dangerous for the heart, a new study proves the opposite, and not only that.

A study on the impact of coffee on a heart disorder

An international research team has in fact studied the role of coffee on a heart disorder called “atrial fibrillation”. This pathology, which concerns 1% of the general population, but 10% of the population aged 80 according to Amelispeeds up the heart and makes it beat irregularly.

It can lead to complications such as heart failure or the formation of blood clots, which can cause strokes.

In their study, presented on November 9, 2025 during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans and published in the journal JAMA, the researchers explain having recruited 200 elderly people in Australia, Canada and the United States, who had consumed coffee regularly over the past five years. The average age was 70 years old and a third of the participants were women.

Before the study began, 60% of participants in the coffee group and 65% of those in the non-coffee group reported that coffee had never caused an episode of atrial fibrillation.

For six months, participants were randomly divided into two groups: a caffeine-free group and a group consuming at least one cup per day. Each participant self-reported their consumption of coffee and caffeinated beverages during teleconsultations or video interviews at 1, 3, and 6 months after the start of the study.

Coffee could protect against atrial fibrillation

For this study, researchers used an electrocardiogram (ECG), wearable heart monitors and implantable cardiac devices to identify the first recurring episode of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, a related condition that also causes abnormal contractions in the upper chambers of the heart.

In the results presented by the researchers, 111 participants (56%) experienced a recurrence of atrial flutter. Those who drank coffee were less exposed to a recurrence (47% compared to 64% in the group without coffee) and had a longer time before the first episode.

“I was somewhat surprised to find how protective caffeinated coffee seems to be against atrial fibrillation,” said Dr. Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and author of the study, in comments reported by NBC News.

According to researchers, just one cup of coffee per day would be enough to have a protective effect against this heart condition.

While the cause of this effect has not yet been determined, the research team believes it is due to an anti-inflammatory compound found in coffee, not caffeine.

Source: NBCNews