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Association between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome in Korean adults

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 78, pages 905–915 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives

Studies examining the association between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome (MetS), considering different coffee types, have reported inconsistent results. We investigated the relationship between coffee consumption and MetS, taking into account coffee types, using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 2016 to 2021 among 14,631 adults aged 19–64 years.

Subjects/Methods

We used a 24-h dietary recall method to assess diet, including the type and quantity of coffee consumed. Coffee was categorized into black coffee and coffee with sugar and/or cream (non-drinkers, ≤1, 2–3, and >3 cups/day). Multivariable logistic regression models were utilized to investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and MetS, defined by the harmonized criteria.

Results

After adjusting for potential covariates, for women, 2–3 cups/day of black coffee were inversely associated with MetS (OR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.46–0.96). Three or fewer cups per day of black coffee were inversely associated with low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and elevated triglycerides in women. Coffee consumption was not significantly associated with MetS in men. Consumption of coffee with sugar and/or cream or more than three cups per day of coffee was not significantly associated with MetS overall.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that moderate of 2–3 cups/day of black coffee consumption is inversely associated with MetS in women, possibly due to its favorable impact on HDL-C and triglycerides. Further prospective studies examining the consumption of different coffee types in relation to MetS are warranted to offer definitive evidence.

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Fig. 1: Study participants aged 19–64 years after following exclusion criteria.

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Data availability

The relevant data are publicly available through KNHANES website: https://knhanes.kdca.go.kr/knhanes/eng/index.do.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the participants and staff of seventh and eighth periods (2016–2021) of KNHANES for their valuable contributions.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Korean government (grant number NRF–2021R1F1A1050847). The National Research Foundation of Korea had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

    Sooyeun Choi & Youjin Je

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  1. Sooyeun Choi
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Contributions

The authors’ responsibilities were as follows— Conceptualization, YJ and SC; formal analysis, SC; investigation, YJ and SC; data curation, YJ and SC; funding acquisition, YJ; writing—original draft, SC; writing—review and editing, YJ. All the authors have read and agreed to the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Youjin Je.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The Institutional Review Board of KCDC provided formal ethics approval for KNHANES datasets, and each participant provided informed consent.

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Choi, S., Je, Y. Association between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome in Korean adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 78, 905–915 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-024-01478-w

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