Coffee and metabolic phenotypes: A cross-sectional analysis of the Japan multi-institutional collaborative cohort (J-MICC) study

Background and aims: To date, the relationship between coffee consumption and metabolic phenotypes has hardly been investigated and remains controversial. Therefore, the aim of this cross-sectional study is to examine the associations between coffee consumption and metabolic phenotypes in a Japanese population. Methods and results: We analyzed the data of 26,363 subjects (aged 35–69 years) in the baseline survey of the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study. Coffee consumption was assessed using a questionnaire. Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) was defined according to the Joint Interim Statement Criteria of 2009, using body mass index (BMI) instead of waist circumference. Subjects stratified by the presence or absence of obesity (normal weight: BMI <25 kg/m²; obesity: BMI ≥25 kg/m²) were classified by the number of MetS components (metabolically healthy: no components; metabolically unhealthy: one or more components) other than BMI. In multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for sex, age, and other potential confounders, high coffee consumption (≥3 cups/day) was associated with a lower prevalence of MetS and metabolically unhealthy phenotypes both in normal weight (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.76–0.90) and obese subjects (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.69–0.99). Filtered/instant coffee consumption was inversely associated with the prevalence of MetS and metabolically unhealthy phenotypes, whereas canned/bottled/packed coffee consumption was not. Conclusion: The present results suggest that high coffee consumption, particularly filtered/instant coffee, is inversely associated with the prevalence of metabolically unhealthy phenotypes in both normal weight and obese Japanese adults.