Coffee: A heart-healthy brew?

Here's the scoop on how coffee may affect your heart — and the best way to prepare and enjoy this aromatic beverage.

Many people enjoy coffee, not just for the taste but for the stimulating jolt of caffeine each cup delivers. But this dark, bitter brew actually contains more than 1,000 different chemical compounds, some of which seem to have favorable effects on factors linked to heart disease. What's more, several recent population-based studies have linked coffee drinking to longevity — specifically, to a lower risk of dying of heart disease.

The largest one to date, published earlier this year, took a closer look at how different brewing methods might influence coffee's effect on the heart. Filtered coffee seems to be the best option, according to the study authors (see "Brewing controversy: Filtered vs. unfiltered coffee").