Researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong University conducted a study on how coffee intake interacts with hypertension and other health conditions to influence calcium buildup in the walls of the abdominal aorta. The team noted that higher calcium deposition in this area relates to a greater risk of stroke and heart attack. The findings appeared in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.
The study analyzed data from the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, covering more than 2,500 adults. Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) severity was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Prior work has shown a link between AAC severity and cardiovascular event risk, underscoring why this line of inquiry matters for public health.
Overall, the analysis did not find a consistent link between coffee consumption and AAC severity across the general population. Yet among individuals with hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease, those who consumed roughly 390 grams or more of coffee per day showed a slight uptick in Kauppila calcification scores, a marker used to gauge AAC burden.
When looking at high coffee intake together with specific health conditions, the study observed a rise in the likelihood of severe AAC: about a 50 percent increase in risk for people who drank large amounts of coffee, rising to around 70 percent for those with arterial hypertension. These associations point to a potential interaction between caffeine exposure and vascular health in susceptible groups, rather than a universal effect.
The researchers noted that caffeine can acutely raise blood pressure, may temporarily impair endothelial function, and can disrupt sleep patterns. These shifts could influence how the body handles cholesterol and other lipids, potentially affecting vascular health over time. Importantly, the authors emphasize that the results show a correlation, not a proven cause-and-effect relationship, and that other factors could explain differences observed between groups.
In sum, the study suggests that high coffee intake might be associated with higher AAC in people who already face cardiovascular risk factors. For the general population, no clear link emerged between daily coffee quantity and AAC severity, highlighting the need for individualized health considerations and further research to clarify these relationships.
It is worth noting that partial carotid artery narrowing as a result of intense exercise can raise stroke risk in certain scenarios, reflecting how vascular health can be influenced by a spectrum of factors that extend beyond caffeine consumption alone.