Coffee: Health Effects

The health effects of chronic coffee intake are wide-ranging. The cardiovascular effects of coffee are still debated, although most recent findings indicate that moderate coffee consumption is unlikely to adversely affect cardiovascular outcome. The potential benefits of chronic coffee intake also include protection against neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. However, most data on coffee's health effects are based on observational data, with very few randomized, controlled studies. In addition, a considerable interindividual variability in cardiovascular and psychoactive responses to coffee drinking has been observed: this is in part due to tolerance, but there is evidence that variability may have a genetic basis.