Clinical Trial: Coffee Lowers AF Recurrence Risk by 39%

A new randomized clinical trial has found that adults with atrial fibrillation who consumed at least one cup of caffeinated coffee daily experienced a 39 percent lower risk of recurrent episodes compared to those who abstained from caffeine entirely. The study, known as the DECAF trial, involved 200 participants across five hospitals in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and its results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in November 2025.

The trial targeted individuals with a history of atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder that affects more than 10 million people in the United States and can lead to serious complications such as stroke, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. Prevalence of the condition has risen in recent years, linked to increasing rates of obesity and an aging population. All participants had previously been regular coffee drinkers and underwent electrical cardioversion, a procedure that uses an electric shock to restore normal heart rhythm, before entering the study. They were randomly assigned to either continue drinking caffeinated...