Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed beverages in the world, but the acute health effects of coffee consumption remain uncertain.

The authors of this original study conducted a prospective, randomized, case-crossover trial to examine the effects of caffeinated coffee on cardiac ectopy and arrhythmias, daily step counts, sleep minutes, and serum glucose levels. A total of 100 adults were fitted with a continuously recording electrocardiogram device, a wrist-worn accelerometer, and a continuous glucose monitor. Participants downloaded a smartphone application to collect geolocation data. We used daily text messages, sent over a period of 14 days, to randomly instruct participants to consume caffeinated coffee or avoid caffeine. The primary outcome was the mean number of daily premature atrial contractions. Adherence to the randomization assignment was assessed with the use of real-time indicators recorded by the participants, daily surveys, reimbursements for date-stamped receipts for coffee purchases, and virtual monitoring (geofencing) of coffee-shop visits.

The results indicate that the consumption of caffeinated coffee as compared with no caffeine consumption was associated with 154 and 102 daily premature ventricular contractions, respectively; 10,646 and 9665 daily steps; 397 and 432 minutes of nightly sleep; and serum glucose levels of 95 mg per decilitre and 96 mg per decilitre. Therefore, in this randomized trial, the consumption of caffeinated coffee did not result in significantly more daily premature atrial contractions than the avoidance of caffeine.

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References

  1. Marcus, G. M., Rosenthal, D. G., Nah, G., Vittinghoff, E., Fang, C., Ogomori, K., Joyce, S., Yilmaz, D., Yang, V., Kessedjian, T., Wilson, E., Yang, M., Chang, K., Wall, G., & Olgin, J. E. (2023). Acute Effects of Coffee Consumption on Health among Ambulatory Adults. The New England Journal of Medicine, 388(12), 1092–1100. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2204737

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