Posted by minnu.s.vincent on Nov. 22, 2013, 3:09 p.m.
A
cup of coffee may keep your heart healthy by improving blood flow,
says a study.
A
study on 27 healthy adults showed for the first time that drinking a
cup of caffeinated coffee significantly improved blood flow in a
finger, which is a measure of how well the inner lining of the body's
smaller blood vessels work.
The
research was presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific
Sessions 2013.
Specifically,
participants who drank a cup of caffeinated coffee had a 30 percent
increase in blood flow over a 75-minute period compared to those who
drank decaffeinated coffee.
'This
gives us a clue about how coffee may help improve cardiovascular
health,' said Masato Tsutsui, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher and
cardiologist and professor in the pharmacology department at the
University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan.
The
study adds to a growing body of research about coffee, the most
widely consumed beverage worldwide. Previous studies showed that
drinking coffee is linked to lower risks of dying from heart disease
and stroke, and that high doses of caffeine may improve the function
of larger arteries, reports the Science Daily.