One-hundred-eighty-three Norwegian men and women, aged 24-69 years, were randomly assigned to 3 groups and instructed to either abstain from coffee, drink 1-3 cups daily, or ≥4 cups daily. After 6 weeks, abstention from coffee resulted in decreases in total cholesterol and tHcy, as well as a significant increase in levels of the B vitamin folate. Because folate is an important determinant of serum tHcy concentrations, the rise in folate concentrations may have been the cause of the decline in tHcy. Total cholesterol, tHcy, and serum folate concentrations were unchanged in both groups of coffee drinkers. Extrapolating these results to long-term risk for IHD, abstaining from 4 cups/day of coffee would reduce cholesterol-related risk of IHD by 15% and tHcy-related risk of IHD by 10%.
The authors conclude that relative elevations of tHcy and cholesterol are caused by compounds such as terpenoids, which are only partially removed from coffee in the filtering process.
Christensen, Benedicte, et al. Abstention from filtered coffee reduces the concentrations of plasma homocysteine and serum cholesterol—a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;74:302-7
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