"This is Seattle so I'm not going to take away ALL your coffee."
That's one of the things my neuro-interventionist told be on my first full day in the hospital for a high blood pressure induced stroke. For the next month, my day would start with a nice, hot, steaming mug of -- decaf.
Maybe the Venti 5-shot Americano that had been my go to drink at Starbucks was pushing my cardio vascular system a little harder than was ideal, but we recently got some great news that addresses moderate coffee consumption.
People who drink 2-3 cups of coffee and/or tea a day are significantly less likely to have a stroke or dementia!
The study, funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China looked at the coffee and tea consumption habits of more than 365,000 residents of the UK, aged 50-74. They found, "Drinking 2 to 3 cups of coffee with 2 to 3 cups of tea daily were associated with a 32% lower risk of stroke and a 28% lower risk of dementia."
Those are some pretty big numbers. You can read more details about the study here.
What should we do with this information? Should we all start drinking more coffee to keep ourselves safe? Eh. I think we should be drinking coffee and tea because we enjoy them. If you'd like to adjust your consumption based on this study, talk to your doctor or medical team first.
When it comes to reducing your chances of having a stroke or another stroke, there may be other lifestyle changes to address first. Quitting tobacco and cocaine are pretty much at the top of the list, along with achieving a healthy blood pressure (120/80), a healthy weight, and a healthy blood sugar level are probably the most important ones. Getting exercise and proper sleep are important, as is having a healthy relationship with alcohol. Even then, it may not be enough. Up to 20% of strokes have no known cause. You can do everything right and still have a stroke.
That's why it's still so important for everyone to know how to recognize the signs of a stroke and BE FAST because time lost is brain lost.
This study shows us that coffee and tea may be just a couple of additional arrows in a quiver of tools to reduce our chance of having a stroke.
And if you already drink 2-3 cups a day, you can likely continue to do so without fear.
Enjoy.