Coffee, plasma cholesterol, and lipoproteins. A population study in an adult community

The associations between intake of coffee or decaffeinated coffee and plasma cholesterol and lipoprotein measurements were examined in a probability sample from a defined community of adults. The results were based on 24-hour dietary recall interviews and laboratory measurements carried out in 1972-1974 on 381 women and 320 men conducted as part of the La Jolla Lipid Research Clinic study. Intake of 8+ oz (230+ ml) of coffee per day was reported by 65% of women and 70% of men. Plasma cholesterol increased with increasing coffee drinking in women as follows: 0-7 oz (0-229 ml), 214 mg/dl; 8-32 oz (230-960 ml), 222 mg/dl; and 33+ oz (961+ ml), 234 mg/dl. This trend was significant at p less than 0.01. Almost all of the difference could be accounted for by an increase in low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Plasma cholesterol was not affected by coffee intake in men or by decaffeinated coffee intake in either sex. The results were unaffected by adjustment for age, obesity index, number of cigarettes smoked per day, ml of alcohol consumed per day, oral contraceptive use, regular exercise, daily intake of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fat, polyunsaturated/saturated fat ratio, use of cream in coffee, and use of sugar in coffee. This study confirms the previously reported significant increase in plasma cholesterol and low density lipoprotein levels with increasing coffee intake in women, and demonstrates that the increase is due largely to elevation of low density lipoprotein cholesterol. The reasons for a differential response to coffee in women and men, reported previously and in this study, deserve further investigation.