Habitual consumption of instant coffee is favorably associated with arterial stiffness but not with atheromatosis.

Abstract

Epidemiological data suggest that moderate habitual coffee consumption associates with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk; however scarce data exist regarding the association of coffee with subclinical vascular disease (SVD). We aimed at investigating the above association with habitual instant coffee consumption - a widely consumed coffee in Greece-in high CVD risk but free of established CVD adults. In a cross-sectional design study we measured: (i) two 24h dietary recalls to assess coffee consumption, (ii) arterial stiffness, by carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity - (PWV) and carotid compliance, arterial remodeling by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), pressure wave reflection by augmentation index (AIx) and atheromatosis by carotid plaques. In 1041 participants (55.6% females, 53.6±14.0 years), 30% habitually consumed instant coffee (0.53±1.15 cups/day). Consumption of instant coffee was inversely associated with systolic blood pressure (β=-1.19, p=0.007), AIx (β=-0.71, p=0.043), PWV (β=-0.22, p=0.000) and IMT (β=-0.01, p=0.025), but these associations lost their significance after multiple adjustments for confounders. Instant coffee consumption was positively associated with carotid compliance independent from all possible confounders (β=0.005, p=0.003). Habitual moderate instant coffee consumption is inversely associated with arterial stiffening and potential with arterial remodeling. These favorable vascular associations offer a potential pathophysiological link between habitual coffee consumption and lower incidence of CVD. Future studies are needed to examine the long-term effects of habitual instant coffee consumption on vascular structure and function.