While experts have often been divided over the health benefits of caffeine, some believing it’s a dangerous stimulant that causes high blood pressure, while others say it has preventative effects against strokes, reports the Daily Mail.
Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute tracked the data of nearly half a million people over a period dating from the 1960s to 2011.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, were that two daily cups of coffee reduced the risk of a blood clot in the brain by 14 percent, and that three to four cups reduced the risk by 17 percent.
Beyond this amount, the benefits did not increase with the amount consumed. Researchers reported that ten or more cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of stroke by only 7 percent.
They believe that antioxidants in coffee help protect the blood vessels in the brain. The scientists concluded, “Coffee is a complex mixture of substances that may have both beneficial and harmful effects.”
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