Coffee drinking and blood lipid changes in a controlled trial
What it found
In 47 people who drank 4 or 8 cups of coffee a day, three lysophosphatidylcholine lipid species fell significantly.
Other lipid changes were less certain.
What they found
Studies in people
Three lipids fell
Three lysophosphatidylcholine species, LPC (20:4), LPC (22:1) and LPC (22:2), significantly decreased after coffee intake.
Other lipid changes
Another 72 lipid species were nominally associated with coffee intake, and 58 of these decreased after coffee. These were in the LPC, free fatty acid, phosphatidylcholine, cholesteryl ester and triacylglycerol classes.
Lipid classes unchanged
Overall lipid class concentrations and distributions did not significantly change in response to coffee intake.
Clinical markers
In the earlier report of this trial, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, apo A-I and adiponectin increased significantly with coffee, while interleukin-18, 8-isoprostane, and the ratios of LDL to HDL cholesterol and of apo B to apo A-I decreased significantly.
Correlations with metabolites
Changes in lipid species generally correlated with metabolites that also decreased with coffee, particularly those of the acyl choline and endocannabinoid pathways. No changes in lipids or metabolites were consistently correlated with clinical markers that responded to coffee.
What the authors conclude
“In conclusion, coffee intake leads to lower levels of specific LPC species with potential impacts on glycerophospholipid metabolism more generally.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that coffee intake leads to lower levels of specific LPC species with potential impacts on glycerophospholipid metabolism more generally.
- They say their study provides the first thorough analysis of the lipidomic changes in response to controlled coffee consumption.
- They suggest coffee alters glycerophospholipid metabolism and offers insight into how coffee may exert its health effects.
How it was done
The authors wanted to find individual lipid changes from coffee drinking, to better understand how coffee may affect health.
They measured lipids in fasting blood samples from 47 habitual coffee drinkers who first avoided coffee for 1 month, then drank 4 cups a day for a month, then 8 cups a day for a month. The samples were analysed for 853 lipid species.
What it can’t tell you
- The study had no randomization, no blinding of participants and no placebo control, so it cannot rule out effects of time-varying factors.
- The findings are from Finnish habitual coffee drinkers at increased risk of type 2 diabetes, so they may not apply to other groups.
- The study cannot show whether the lipid changes affect health outcomes.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by American Diabetes Association (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest
- Authors work at
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, USA; National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland; Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
The paper
- Title
- Lipidomic Response to Coffee Consumption
- Type
- Clinical trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Kuang A, Erlund I, Herder C, Westerhuis JA, Tuomilehto J, Cornelis MC (2018). Lipidomic Response to Coffee Consumption. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu10121851Free full textPubMed 30513727DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error