In this Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 photo, the owner of a coffee shop serves cappuccinos to judges during a barista competition in Cranberry, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
(HealthDay News) — Drinking three to five cups of coffee a day may reduce the risk of developing clogged arteries, which in turn might reduce the risk for heart attack, a new study suggests.
“We found that drinking three to five cups a day was associated with less calcium build-up in the arteries,” said researcher Dr. Eliseo Guallar, a professor from the department of epidemiology and medicine at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
Calcium build-up is an early sign of hardening of the arteries and the risk for heart disease, he explained.
Guallar said that this study cannot show a direct cause-and-effect relationship between coffee and reduced calcium in the arteries, but noted that the association between these factors is very strong.