Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world and many people drink at least one cup of coffee a day. This popularity has led to a lot of research on it to clarify its advantages and disadvantages. Now a new research says that daily consumption of at least one cup of coffee can increase physical activity, but on the other hand, it has a negative effect on sleep and may have an effect on increasing some kind of cardiac arrhythmia.
The results of this new study, in which 100 healthy adults with an average age of 39 years participated, have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The people in this research used Fitbit to measure their steps and sleep. Also, their heart rate and blood sugar were continuously monitored.
Effects of coffee consumption
The people in this study were told to drink as much coffee as they want for two days, not to drink coffee for two days, and repeat this cycle again for two weeks.
People walked an average of 1,058 more steps on coffee-drinking days than on non-coffee-drinking days. But on the other hand, they slept 36 minutes less during these days. The more people consumed coffee, the more physical activity they did, but on the other hand, they slept less.
According to Dr. Gregory Marcus, senior author of the recent study and a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, their findings show that coffee doesn’t just have one health-related consequence:
“Overall, the findings suggest that coffee consumption does not have only one health-related outcome, but that the reality is much more complex than that. Most of the research on this topic has been observational, meaning we only look at what happens to people when they drink or don’t drink coffee. This method has some limitations. So the only way to reduce the limitations was to do a randomized interventional trial.”
Along with physical activity and sleep, coffee also seems to affect the heart. Although the researchers did not find evidence of a significant association between coffee consumption and premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) (a type of cardiac arrhythmia), and PVCs are common, drinking more than one cup of coffee per day led to a higher risk of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) compared to days when people did not drink coffee. The incidence of PVC increased to 50%.
According to Marcus, there is evidence in some people that the higher the PVC, the weaker the heart and the risk of heart problems. According to Marcus, if a person is concerned about heart disease or has a family history of heart disease, it is better to reduce coffee consumption.
When people drink coffee, they may be more motivated to exercise or perform better when they start exercising, Marcus says. However, they should not think that by consuming energy drinks or high doses of caffeine, they can increase their performance in training; Because high doses lead to disorders.
Although it is not surprising that coffee consumption reduces sleep, the possible influence of genetics can be interesting. In this study, researchers collected DNA samples from people and concluded that people who experience the most insomnia due to coffee consumption have a genetic variation that is related to slower metabolism of caffeine. In contrast, individuals with a genetic variation associated with faster metabolism of caffeine had more premature ventricular contractions.
Despite the above results, it must be said that we are dealing with a small research that was conducted for a limited period of time with the participation of healthy people.
