But light coffee drinkers increased their risk of heart attack by more than four times with one cup, according to the study. Little effect was seen among heavy coffee drinkers (those who drank four or more cups per day). What's more, coffee drinkers who have three or more risk factors for heart disease more than doubled their risk of sustaining a heart attack after downing a cup.
The new study was based on 503 cases of nonfatal heart attacks in Costa Rica.
The researchers asked participants about their coffee consumption in the hours and days before their heart attack.
Although the study was conducted in Costa Rica, the researchers say the results are relevant to the U.S. because Americans and Costa Ricans have similar caffeine habits.
Cutting the Risk
"For people with multiple risk factors for a heart attack and those who have a sedentary lifestyle, a cup of coffee could be the final straw," says Ahmed El-Sohemy, PhD, an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada.
"One should aim to remove some of these known risk factors and have a more active lifestyle," he says.
"For those people who are not regular consumers and have other risk factors, getting that jolt of caffeine is probably a jolt to their system," he explains.
"We know that caffeine causes transient increases in blood pressure, so those who are not regular consumers are not used to it, and they get that surge and for a vulnerable heart, that could be the trigger," he says.
El-Sohemy recently reported that people who have a genetic variation associated with slower caffeine metabolism are at an increased risk of a nonfatal heart attack when they consume coffee.