Coffee-Coronary Controversy Percolates Again

BOSTON —  Sit back and enjoy another cup of full-powered, extra-kick caffeinated coffee. A major new study concludes your morning brew is almost certainly harmless to your heart. Decaf, though, may be another story.

Contrary to the fears of many doctors and coffee lovers, coffee with a get-you-going jolt of caffeine seems to be perfectly safe, as far as the heart is concerned. However, the study found troubling hints that people who drink lots of decaffeinated coffee may somewhat increase their risk of heart trouble.

“This study means that if there is a hazard with drinking caffeinated coffee, it’s going to be very small, and there may be none at all,” said Dr. Walter Willett, who directed the study at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The research was based on a survey of the coffee-drinking habits of 45,589 men. It will be published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Those who suspected coffee was bad for the heart usually assumed that caffeine, the chemical that gives coffee its punch, was to blame. But the new research suggests just the opposite: Those who drink more than four cups of decaf a day have about 60% more risk of heart disease than do those who never drink it.