Coffee consumption, diet, and lipids

Recent reports suggest that coffee consumption is associated with increased serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. The authors examined the association between serum lipids and coffee consumption and other caffeinated beverages as part of a population-based study of 1,228 women and 923 men, aged 25-64 years, in San Antonio, Texas, studied between October 1979 and November 1982. The study confirmed a positive relationship between coffee consumption and both total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in both sexes which persisted after adjustment for age, ethnicity, obesity, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption. Neither tea nor cola consumption was associated with changes in serum lipids, suggesting that caffeine alone does not exert a direct effect on lipid levels. The possibility was examined that the coffee-cholesterol relationship might be due to a more atherogenic diet consumed by heavy coffee drinkers. In men, per cent calories from both total and saturated fat and dietary cholesterol intake increased with increased coffee consumption. Similar trends were not observed in women, however. The positive relationship between coffee and cholesterol may therefore be due to confounding effects of other aspects of the diet.