Association between coffee consumption with serum lipid profile in ELSA-Brasil study: a metabolomic approach

This study evaluated the association between coffee consumption and serum lipid profile in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).

This is a cross-sectional study on baseline data from participants of the cohort ELSA-Brasil. Only participants of São Paulo Research Center who underwent a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy examination of lipid profile were included (N = 4736). Coffee intake was categorized into four categories (cups/day, in reference cup size of 50 mL, which is the household measure adopted in Brazil): never/almost never, ≤ 1, 1-3, and > 3. Serum lipid profile [i.e., Total Cholesterol (TC), Total Triglycerides (TG), Very Low-Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-c), Low-Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c), High-Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c), Triglyceride-rich Lipoprotein Particles (TRLP) and subfractions particles] was analyzed. To estimate the effect of coffee consumption on serum lipid profile, multivariate Generalized Linear Models were performed.

Compared to participants who never or almost never drink coffee, individuals who consumed more than 3 cups/day showed an increase in concentrations of TC (β: 4.13; 95% CI 0.81, 7.45), TG (β: 9.53; 95% CI 1.65, 17.42), VLDL-c (β: 1.90; 95% CI 0.38, 3.42), TRLP (β: 8.42; 95% CI 1.24, 15.60), and Very Small-TRLP and Medium-TRLP subfractions (β: 7.36; 95% CI 0.21, 14.51; β: 2.53; 95% CI 0.89, 4.16, respectively), but not with HDL-c and LDL-c. Among individuals with low (≤ 1 cup/day) and moderate (1-3 cups/day) coffee consumption, no significant associations with lipids was observed.

High coffee consumption (more than 3 cups per day) was associated with an increase in serum lipids, namely TC, TG, VLDL-c, and TRL particles, highlighting the importance of a moderate consumption of this beverage.