The total daily steps that we must take to be healthy is an indeterminate number. Health experts say that we must walk at least 10,000 steps, although it is not always so easy to achieve. Luckily, a recent study claims that having a latte could be key.
Drinking a latte could help increase your step count, according to the study scientists. They found that people who drank coffee walked an additional 1,000 steps a day.
The study, presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2021 , is the first randomized trial to investigate the consequences of coffee consumption in real time. Coffee is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, but its health effects remain uncertain. Although most studies have suggested potential benefits of drinking coffee, this is the first randomized trial to investigate the real-time physiological consequences of coffee consumption.
A thousand more steps when drinking latte
According to the team from the University of California, San Francisco, coffee intake had both beneficial and detrimental effects on short-term health. The study volunteers who drank coffee walked an additional 1,000 steps and more than 600 steps for each cup added.
However, drinking coffee appeared to reduce sleep duration by 36 minutes for the first cup and an additional 18 minutes for each extra cup. The team did not say why this might be the case, but the results highlight the complex relationship between coffee and health.
The team of researchers found that coffee consumption led to a 54 percent increase in a type of abnormal heartbeat that originated in the lower chambers of the heart. However, they found that drinking more coffee was also associated with fewer episodes of supraventricular tachycardia , an abnormally fast heart rate that arises from the upper chambers of the heart.
Coffee consumption was consistently associated with more physical activity and less sleep. Those in the coffee drinking group recorded an additional 1,000 steps per day compared to the days when they were not in the coffee group. Each additional cup of coffee consumed was associated with nearly 600 more steps per day and 18 minutes less sleep per night. They also slept 36 minutes less per night when they drank coffee, compared to days when they were forced to abstain.
Walking metabolizes caffeine
Increased physical activity, which appears to be fueled by coffee consumption, has numerous health benefits. These include lower risks of type 2 diabetes and various cancers, and it is associated with greater longevity. On the other hand, reduced sleep is associated with a variety of adverse psychiatric, neurological, and cardiovascular outcomes.
Those with genetic variants linked to faster caffeine metabolism showed more abnormal heartbeats in the ventricles when more coffee was consumed. The slower caffeine is metabolized based on genetics, the more sleep we lose when we drink caffeinated coffee. That is why it is recommended to walk and be active when we have an afternoon coffee.
They also found no link between changes in exercise or sleep and the effects of coffee on abnormal heart rhythms.
