Are you a person who likes to have a cup of coffee every morning or prefers to drink it after a meal to burn off? If you answered yes, did you know that consuming it could increase your risk of developing hypertension, i.e. high blood pressure? Simply put: caffeine can put extra strain on your cardiovascular system, leading to adverse effects such as mental agitation and increased heart rate.
In this blog post, we are going to explore in more detail the impact of coffee on our blood pressure and what is the best alternative to get the same dose of caffeine without harming your health. Read on to find out more!
A new study highlights the impact of coffee on blood pressure.
A recent study by researchers at Osaka University in Japan examined the potential link between coffee and green tea consumption and mortality from cardiovascular disease. Especially in people with or without hypertension. The research involved a sample of 6,570 men and more than 12,000 women aged 40 to 79, who provided data on their medical history, lifestyle and eating habits through a questionnaire.
Study results showed that drinking two or more cups of coffee a day was linked to a twice as high risk of death from cardiovascular disease in people with severe hypertension (systolic blood pressure of 160/100 mmHg or more). This was not the case for those who drank only one cup a day; regardless of their blood pressure level, they did not have an increased risk of death.
For people with less severe forms of hypertension (systolic blood pressure between 140/90 mm Hg and 159/99 mm Hg), no correlation was observed between coffee consumption and disease death rates. cardiovascular. Interestingly, green tea consumption was not associated with any type or degree of hypertension, either in terms of increased risk of death or other health outcomes.
How often you drink coffee says a lot about your longevity!
Taken together, these results suggest that people with severe hypertension should pay attention to the amount of coffee they consume to reduce their risk of suffering a fatal heart attack. It should be noted, however, that the results do not indicate that moderate amounts of caffeine are bad for cardiometabolic health; on the contrary, excessive amounts are probably detrimental for people who already suffer from problems with hypertension. It is not yet known whether this also applies to other caffeinated drinks.
How should people at risk for high blood pressure drink coffee?
Keep one principle in mind: always follow your body’s reaction when you drink coffee. The FDA recommends that adults consume no more than 400 mg of caffeine per day (about 3-4 standard cups of coffee) on average.
Exceeding the recommended intake can cause adverse effects such as palpitations and anxiety in people with low caffeine tolerance. For people with hypertension, daily caffeine intake is more limited. In general, 200-300 mg of caffeine can increase systolic blood pressure by an average of 8 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 6 mm Hg. Therefore, hypertensive patients are recommended to limit their daily caffeine intake to less than 200mg.
In a paper published in 2021, researchers from the University of South Australia found that genetic data suggests that people tend to naturally regulate their coffee intake based on blood pressure levels and heart rate. Professor Elina Hyppönen, who led the research, thinks people unconsciously self-regulate safe levels of caffeine based on blood pressure levels, which could be the result of a protective genetic mechanism. If your body doesn’t feel like drinking more, there’s probably a reason.
