Experts Say up to 5 Cups of Coffee a Day Can Be Safe (But There’s a Catch)

Bad news for my boyfriend, who likes to call out my coffee addiction: Drinking five cups of coffee per day is totally fine. In fact, it might actually lower the risk of heart disease.

Recent research by the American Heart Association found that regular coffee consumption is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and diabetes.

Of course, this refers to black coffee, not the sugary lattes many of us like to consume year-round. But hey, it’s still a win for us coffee drinkers. Now I don’t need to feel guilty for drinking coffee like it’s a sport (though I should probably mix in a water or two here and there).

Caffeine and Heart Health

It’s important to note that consuming caffeine in black coffee is different from consuming it in energy drinks and other sources.

“Caffeine consumed in coffee is a key part of daily life for millions of people, and in our review of the most recent research, for most adults, intake of up to 400 mg of caffeine/day, the equivalent of up to 5 cups of caffeinated coffee per day without added sugars or fillers, is safe and does not increase cardiovascular risk,” said Gregory M. Marcus, M.D., M.A.S., FAHA, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and the associate chief of Cardiology for Research at the University of California, San Francisco Health. “However, high doses of caffeine, such as those found in energy drinks including energy shots, may have harmful effects on the heart and should be avoided.”

So, don’t take this as permission to down a few energy shots or order five sugary lattes per day.

The Nuance

As much as I want to believe that brewing five cups of coffee in 24 hours is healthy, it’s important to look at the research a bit more deeply. When I first heard about this study, I immediately knew it wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed on the surface. Like most positive news, it seemed too good to be true.

Dr. Zachary Rubin, MD, author of Think Like a Doctor, explained the research more thoroughly than most headlines do in his recent TikTok video.

“Notice how the American Heart Association did not say that drinking coffee prevents heart disease,” he pointed out. “That nuance matters.”

Dr. Rubin noted that most of the evidence was observational, meaning it didn’t necessarily find strict evidence that coffee is good for the heart.

“There are other factors that may be involved with why coffee drinkers tended to have lower rates of heart disease,” he continues. “So we can’t definitively say that coffee drinking prevents it.”

Nevertheless, if doctors are claiming five cups of coffee per day are “fine”—even if not beneficial—I’ll still take it. At least I won’t feel guilty for that afternoon pick-me-up.