Grabbing a cup of coffee at work is a time-honored tradition. It boosts your ability to concentrate on tasks at hand and to socialize for a couple of minutes with colleagues.

In fact, one survey found that two-thirds of people say they start their workday with a cup of coffee — and most drink three cups at their desk or workstation.

I'm a huge fan of the benefits that come from drinking coffee. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, those benefits include protecting against death from coronary heart disease, diabetes, and stroke (for women); protection from liver problems; and reduced risk of Parkinson's and more.

But you need to avoid excess, heart-pounding, sleep-disrupting amounts of caffeine. And you need to brew your coffee in the most healthful way.

A study in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases shows that coffee brewed in workplace machines can increase your intake of compounds that raise your bad LDL cholesterol level — and consequently increase your risk of clogged arteries and heart disease.

The researchers estimated that replacing three cups per day of brewing machine coffee with paper-filtered coffee would lower your risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease by as much as 13% over five years, or 36% over 40 years.

At home, you also want to drink filtered coffee — not French press or from unfiltered pods (you can get filtered pods). And avoid added sugars and creamers that erase the heart-healthy benefits of filtered coffee.

For more information on healthful beverages, check out my "What to Eat When Cookbook."