Flashback Friday: Coffee and Artery Function

The new dietary guidelines for beverages recommend tea and coffee second only to water in healthfulness, but what about concerns they might impair the function of our endothelium?

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I’m fascinated by how complicated such a simple question can get. The take-home is that water is the healthiest beverage, followed by tea.

The effects of coffee on cancer risk are more salutary:

Coffee and Cancer (
What About the Caffeine? (
Preventing Liver Cancer with Coffee? (

It also matters what goes into the coffee. My video on aspartame and brain function ( explores the potential benefits of coffee in reducing suicide risk, which may be undermined by the addition of artificial sweeteners.

Since this video was originally published, I have some newer ones on coffee:

Does Coffee Affect Cholesterol? (
Which Coffee Is Healthier: Light vs. Dark Roast? (
Does Low-Acid Coffee Cause Less Acid Reflux? (
Do the Health Benefits of Coffee Apply to Everyone? (

Regarding artery function, I also have videos on walnuts, dark chocolate, tea, plant-based diets, olive oil, and vinegar. Just go to NutritionFacts.org and do a search for them.

Have a question about this video? Leave it in the comment section at and someone on the NutritionFacts.org team will try to answer it.

Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at You’ll also find a transcript and acknowledgments for the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics.

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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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Image Credit: GoToVan via Flickr.


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