A large study (41,836 postmenopausal women) of the relationships between the level of coffee drinking and cardiovascular disease, cancer and some inflammatory diseases has found that coffee may reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases, which includes coronary heart disease.

The study excluded women who already had evidence of a whole variety of existing conditions, leaving 27,312 women, who were studied for an average of 15 years.

For women consuming an average of one to three cups of coffee per day, the risk of dying from coronary heart disease was 0.76 (95% CI, 0.64-0.91), for four to five cups, 0.81 (0.66-0.99) and for six or more cups per day, 0.87 (0.69-1.09). These results relate to a risk of 1.0 for women not drinking coffee.

This reduction was attributed to the antioxidant content of coffee, which might reduce the inflammatory component of this condition. There is steadily increasing evidence that inflammation is a key component of the damage present in arteries in patients with coronary heart disease. This has been shown through elevated levels of substances [cytokines] associated with inflammation.