In this video, renowned cardiologist, Dr. Aarush Manchanda, discusses what affect coffee can have on our heart health and whether there are any benefits to drinking it.

Dr. Manchanda is dedicated to raising the awareness of heart disease, revealing simple lifestyle changes that can improve our heart health dramatically. In his book, Heart Health: An Artisan’s Approach to Understanding Heart Health, he uses a heart house analogy to describe how our heart works, making it easy for us to understand what affect our lifestyle choices can have on our heart health.

But in today’s world, making the right lifestyle choices can be difficult because we’re constantly led down the garden path of temptation. For example, we’re surrounded by cafes and luxurious coffee brands that invite us in with their delicious smells and tastes but one thing that’s unclear (due to conflicting pieces of research) is how much coffee is too much?

Coffee Can Have a Direct Effect on Your Heart Health

Coffee is something that Dr. Manchanda loves (and if you ever get the chance to buy him one, he takes it black – without sugar) and he isn’t afraid of letting people know that. After all, the caffeine in coffee is a natural metabolism booster when drunk in small doses. That’s why you’ll often hear bodybuilders or fitness fanatics saying they’ve had a cup of coffee before exercise because this helps to boost their metabolism. Enjoying a small cup of black coffee is something Dr. Manchanda also does before he goes to the gym.

However, before we get too carried away, Dr. Manchanda isn’t giving us a free ticket to drink as much of this rocket fuel as we want. Instead, he wants his heart patients to be aware that caffeine is a direct trigger for arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms). So, if you’re a patient of atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter or PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) then any stimulant (e.g. caffeine or alcohol) is bad for you and you’ll need to order a decaf espresso instead.

Enjoy Everything in Moderation

To conclude, Dr. Manchanda suggests that we need to enjoy everything in moderation. Because if we can be self-disciplined we can reap the benefits of some of these “indulgences” that are available to us. Ultimately, we can be tempted to enjoy a bite of the apple every once in a while.

However, as humans, our worry is always whether we’ll be able to walk that fine line. Sometimes, before we know it, we’ll find ourselves guzzling four or five cups of coffee a day with this becoming a part of our lifestyle. But in the process of doing this, we’re harming ourselves, which is why self-control is one of the main factors for improving our heart health.