Science and Medicine

“We were surprised to find that these obese children already have stiff blood vessels,” said Dr. Harris from B.C. Children’s Hospital.

The blood vessels of obese children have stiffness normally seen in much older adults with cardiovascular disease, Dr. Kevin Harris told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010, co-hosted by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The clock is ticking and the shape of the 13-year-old heart is changing—for the worse.

“Aortic stiffness is an early indicator of cardiovascular disease in obese children.”

He says it is as if the aging process has been accelerated in their aorta.

The aorta is the largest artery in the human body. It carries and distributes oxygen-rich blood to all the other arteries and normally acts as a buffer to the pumping action of the heart. Increased stiffness of the aorta is typically associated with aging and is a strong predictor of future cardiac events and mortality in adults.

“The normal aorta has elastic qualities that buffer the flow of blood. When that elasticity is lost, aortic stiffness results—a sign of developing cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Harris told the meeting. “Aortic stiffness is associated with cardiovascular events and early death.”

The mean age of the children in Dr. Harris’s study was 13 years old.

Read more: Obese Children Show Signs of Heart Disease Seen in Middle-Aged Adults

It's been linked to lowered risk of diabetes, and contains soluble fiber, the type that can help lower cholesterol.

Coffee lovers may be raising their cups—and perhaps eyebrows—at the recent news (in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry) that the drink contains soluble fiber, the type that can help lower cholesterol. With about 1 g per cup, coffee’s fiber impact is modest. But the report is the latest in a growing stream of positive news about coffee.

Some of the most promising findings come from studies of diabetes. When Harvard researchers combined data from nine studies involving more than 193,000 people, they found that regular coffee drinkers had a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who abstained. The more they drank, the lower their risk.

And, despite coffee’s reputation for being bad for the heart, recent epidemiologic studies haven’t found a connection; some even suggest coffee can be protective. A study in February’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that healthy people 65 and over who drank four or more cups of caffeinated beverages daily (primarily coffee) had a 53 percent lower risk of heart disease than noncoffee drinkers.

Read more: Coffee Linked to Lowered Risk of Diabetes