In July 2026, the American Heart Association issued a scientific statement that reviewed mostly observational evidence about the safety and possible cardiovascular benefits of coffee consumption.

I have written numerous articles about the potential benefits of coffee for various health conditions. These published studies showed that drinking moderate amounts of coffee is linked to a lower risk of dementia, head and neck cancer, mortality, and heart disease.

Since I am not a Big Coffee shill, there is powerful scientific evidence that coffee (and sometimes tea) is good for you. And the American Heart Association agrees.

American Heart Association on coffee health benefits

In a scientific statement published on 20 July 2026 in Circulation, Gregory Marcus, MD, MAS, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues examined large prospective cohort studies with long-term follow-up that consistently showed habitual coffee consumption reduced the risk of all-cause mortality across diverse populations.

Here are the key results:

• Blood pressure. Prospective cohort studies suggested an inverse J-shaped relationship between habitual coffee consumption and hypertension, with increased risk at 1-3 cups per day but a lower risk with higher consumption.
• Diabetes. Habitual coffee consumption has been consistently associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in observational cohort studies. However, the observations may not be related to caffeine, but to other components of coffee.
• Lipids. Unfiltered coffee (French press, Greek/Turkish, and Scandinavian boiled coffee) was associated with higher LDL cholesterol levels in controlled trials.
• Coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF). Coffee has been shown either to have no relationship or to be associated with a lower risk of these cardiovascular diseases in observational analyses. Around 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee per day were associated with approximately a 10% lower CAD risk, while the lowest HF risk has been reported to be roughly 4 cups per day.
• Arrhythmias. Randomized controlled trial data showed that regular caffeinated coffee drinkers, who consumed around 1 to 3 cups per day, had a decreased risk of atrial fibrillation but had an increased risk of premature ventricular contractions.
• Stroke. Moderate caffeine consumption has had a U-shaped association reported with stroke, with the lowest risk observed at moderate coffee consumption (3 to 4 cups/day). However, four or more cups of ground, instant, and decaffeinated coffee were also associated with a lower risk in another study.

The researchers wrote:

Data are fairly consistent that moderate caffeine consumption, again studied primarily in the setting of coffee consumption, was associated with a lower risk of stroke. Data on high doses of caffeine such as that found in energy drinks are limited and generally suggest cardiovascular harm.

The researchers suggested that there were higher risks of some conditions when coffee or other caffeinated products (such as tea) were combined with sugar, flavored syrups, and dairy products. And energy drinks were not good at all.

In a press release, Dr. Marcus stated:

Although research suggests that caffeine consumption may be associated with certain cardiovascular benefits for some people, it’s important to remember that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy for safe caffeine consumption. People can respond very differently to caffeine based on various factors, such as age, medications, underlying health conditions, genetics and how quickly their bodies metabolize it. What may be a reasonable amount for one person could cause unwanted effects, such as heart palpitations, anxiety or sleep disruption, in another. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to how your body responds to caffeine and talk with your healthcare team about what is right for you.

Summary

This study shows significant cardiovascular health benefits from moderate coffee consumption. However, the benefits and risks of coffee may vary from person to person.

There are some limitations to this study. For example, there may be a healthy-person bias in which people who consume more coffee may be healthier than individuals who avoid it. Furthermore, the review included reports with various study designs and limitations.

Also, most of the studies were not constructed to determine if the benefits of coffee result from caffeine or other biochemicals in coffee.

Drinking coffee is not some miracle that will prevent cardiovascular disease, but there is growing evidence that it lowers the risk of some health conditions. Also, these benefits may be associated with green and black teas, so drinking tea may be beneficial.

You might think these results are not huge, but even small risk reduction can decrease mortality risk from cardiovascular disease. And that should make you enjoy your morning cup of coffee even more.

Citations

• Marcus GM, Hu FB, van Dam RM, Cornelis MC, Dewland TA, Kang J, Larsson SC, Page RL 2nd, Parekh N; American Heart Association Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Clinical Cardiology; and Stroke Council. Caffeine and Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2026 Jul 20. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001454. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42473796.

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