HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wolever, T. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wolever, T. M. Agricola Articles by Wolever, T. M.

Abstention from filtered coffee reduces the concentrations of plasma homocysteine and serum cholesterol

Department of Nutritional Sciences University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E2 Canada E-mail: thomas.wolever{at}utoronto.ca

Dear Sir:

Christensen at al (1) describe a randomized trial showing that abstaining from coffee reduced serum cholesterol by 0.28 mmol/L, an effect they suggest is due to terpenoids in coffee. However, I cannot find any comments in the paper about whether the subjects in the study took milk or cream in their coffee. I recently quit drinking coffee at work and as a result reduced my intake of milk by 500 mL (2 cups)/d. It seems to me that the reduction in cholesterol could have been due, at least in part, to a reduction in saturated fat intake resulting from not drinking the milk or cream otherwise used in coffee. The subjects in this study stopped drinking an average of nearly 5 cups (875 mL) coffee/d. If they were using 30 mL whole milk/cup, they reduced their milk intake by 150 mL/d, an amount that contains 5 g fat, of which 60% is saturated. Assuming an energy intake of 8.4 kJ/d, reducing milk intake by 150 mL/d and replacing it with water or juice would reduce saturated fat by nearly 1.5% of energy. According to the Key's equation (2), this would be expected to reduce serum cholesterol by 0.1 mmol/L, or 35% of the observed effect of coffee. If the subjects used cream in their coffee, then the reduction in saturated fat intake could be 2–3 times more than that for milk and might account for the entire effect Christensen et al observed. Of course, if Norwegians like their coffee black, then these musings are nothing more than that!

REFERENCES

1. Christensen B, Mosdol A, Retterstol L, Landaas S, Thelle DS. 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.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. McNamara DJ. Cardiovascular disease. In: Shils ME, Olson JA, Shike M, eds. Modern nutrition in health and disease. 8th ed. Malvern, PA: Lea & Febiger, 1994:1533–44.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. S. Park, S. W. Oh, S.-I. Cho, W. H. Choi, and Y. S. Kim The metabolic syndrome and associated lifestyle factors among South Korean adults Int. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2004; 33(2): 328 - 336. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wolever, T. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wolever, T. M. Agricola Articles by Wolever, T. M.