Coffee keeps the heart beating normally

Coffee drinking often gets a bad press – but it seems to keep the heart beating properly, a new study suggests. The drink helps reduce heart rhythm disturbances, and the more you drink, the better, certainly as far as your rhythms are concerned. People who drink four or more cups a day have an 18 per cent lower risk of needing hospital treatment for irregular heart rhythms, while those who drink just one to three cups a day have a 7 per cent lower risk. The findings, which are based on a study of 130,054 men and women, are surprising because people associate coffee drinking with increased palpitations, and it’s still the case that very large doses of pure caffeine – coffee’s most active ingredient – can produce heart rhythm disturbances. (Source: American Heart Association 50th annual conference, San Francisco, March 5, 2010).