Coffee And Your Blood Pressure
Coffee has been part of the human diet for about 1,000 years. During much of that time, it has stimulated controversy and in the age of Starbucks, the dispute has blossomed from a tempest in a coffee pot to grounds for serious debate. Some of coffee’s negative press seems to depend on the widespread belief that anything that tastes so good must be bad for you.
But there is a serious side to the argument: Coffee stimulates the nervous system, increasing alertness. But many people are sensitive to even one cup of coffee, making them feel jittery or interfering with sleep.
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Drinking Coffee With High Blood Pressure
For most people, moderate consumption of coffee is unlikely to have a negative effect on long-term blood pressure or cardiovascular disease.
As with any food, drink or activity, too much of anything may lead to negative effects. The studies and research above evaluated typical coffee consumption up to 5 cups per day. Regardless of their finds, they caution not to drink excess coffee or caffeine with high or uncontrolled blood pressure.
Before changing any of your habits, it would be wise to have your blood pressure under control first. As in any case, its always best to confer with your physician about drinking coffee.
Coffee should not be compared to caffeine. Coffee has many other ingredients like polyphenols, potassium and soluble fiber. These ingredients may have a beneficial effect on blood pressure and the cardiovascular system. This leads me to my next section on caffeine.
More Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally
What if sitting less and doing more exercise isnt enough to lower your blood pressure? Or its lowering it to some extent, but not enough? If thats the case, then you probably need to look at your diet and/or your stress levels too.
Dont stop exercising, because it is undeniably good for your blood pressure, not to mention your general health and mental well-being. But do think about what youre eating and drinking. And if youre prone to stress, then consider taking measures to reduce that. Meditation, yoga, and simple slow breathing exercises can be excellent for this.
This might seem a lot to take on. After all, there are a wide variety of foods and drinks out there so how do you know whats best for your blood pressure? And are you seriously going to be able to reduce your stress levels with some breathing exercises? And how will you make the time for all this?
To make it easier, weve written a guide to lowering your blood pressure through diet, exercise and stress reduction: Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally The Complete 9 Step Guide
As the title suggests, the guide takes a holistic approach to lowering blood pressure. It covers what youre eating and drinking, useful supplements you might want to take, different kinds of exercise you can do, and various approaches to relaxation and stress reduction.
Just click on the picture above for more information and/or to order it.
And all the best with lowering your blood pressure!
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Is There A Link Between Caffeine Consumption And Blood Pressure Measurement
Caffeine consumption and blood pressure are linked only if youre measuring blood pressure within two hours of having caffeine. Caffeine spikes blood pressure 30 to 120 minutes after intake , but this is the only time when a noticeable difference in blood pressure occurs. Caffeine has a half-life of three to six hours, so its possible to see a slight variation in blood pressure within this time period as well, but its unlikely to be pronounced.
Caffeine affects diastolic blood pressure by four to 13 points, and it can impact systolic blood pressure by three to 15 points. If youre going to have your blood pressure checked, avoid taking caffeine beforehand in order to get an accurate reading and prevent any unnecessary concerns or actions.
What To Avoid To Lower Your Blood Pressure
Salt
Salt or sodium chloride has been used to preserve foods and as a flavour enhancer for centuries.
Adults need between 1.2 to 2.4g of salt each day , which is equivalent to 460 to 920mg of sodium.
But in Australia seven out of ten men and three in ten women eat way more than that and much more than the upper recommended limit of 5.9 grams of salt or 2,300 mg of sodium per day.
If you add salt to food yourself this pushes your sodium intake even higher.
A review of studies involving 3,230 people showed that reducing salt intakes by 4.4 grams a day could reduce systolic blood pressure by about 4.2 mmHg and diastolic by 2.1 mmHg.
In those who had high blood pressure there were even bigger reductions of 5.4 mmHg and 2.8 mmHg .
Avoid foods high in sodium. Dont add salt and try to choose lower-salt versions of processed foods.
Alcohol
Consuming one or more alcoholic drink a day is associated with systolic blood pressure that is about 2.7 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 1.4 mmHg higher than non-drinkers.
Interestingly, when you first drink an alcoholic beverage, blood pressure goes down, only to rise later.
A rise in blood pressure after drinking alcohol is more likely to happen when youre awake, rather during sleep.
The bad news is that larger amounts of alcohol increase your risk of high blood pressure, especially in men, but also to a lesser extent in women.
Liquorice
High blood pressure due to eating black liquorice is rare, but case reports have occurred.
Caffeine
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How Much Caffeine Can You Drink A Day
The FDA recommends that adults dont drink more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, the average cup of coffee contains 80 to 100 milligrams of caffeine whereas a can of caffeinated soft drink contains 30-40 milligrams. According to a review of 34 studies, caffeine may raise your blood pressure, especially if you are not a regular coffee drinker. The review found that in general, drinking anywhere between 200-300 milligrams of caffeine can raise your systolic blood pressure by 8 mm Hg while boosting your diastolic blood pressure by 6 mm Hg. The caffeine, however, will usually only raise blood pressure levels for around 3 hours.
Does Caffeine Influence Blood Pressure
Yes and no. As previously outlined, it can cause short-term increase shortly after consumption. However, there is no evidence to show chronic caffeine consumption has a long-lasting impact on blood pressure meaning if youve been drinking coffee every day for 10 years it will have made virtually no impact on your blood pressureunless, of course, youre adding sugar or other calorie-dense ingredients that can lead to weight gain. But from the standpoint of looking specifically at caffeine, it is neutral with regard to long-term blood pressure.
Not everybody has the same acute reactions to caffeine, however. Tolerance is completely unique and differs from person to person. One person may drink coffee every day and get a buzz after one cup, while another may need two or three to exhibit the same response.
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Why Choose Greek Coffee
Greek Coffee is prepared in a special way its boiled in a briki and not filtered, so probably unlike coffee youve had in the past.
Greek coffee itself contains anti inflammatory and anti oxidant substances which can protect you from chronic heart and health diseases. It also has a smaller amount of caffeine than other types of coffee.
Coffee lovers with high blood pressure can drink it with no worries, while enjoying a lower risk of diabetes and blood clotting plus healthier blood vessels.
In fact, research shows that people who drink it enjoy healthy lives and live much longer.
Greek Coffee should be sipped and not gulped down as we do with ordinary coffee to reap the health benefits, which is a great excuse to gather your friends round for a longer coffee morning!
Since its so strong and rich, youll need a jug of cold water beside you so that all your mates could share. Dont be tempted to add milk it should be drunk plain.
Now lets make some Greek Coffee for two!
Hibiscus Tea And Blood Pressure
My favorite herbal tea that lowers your blood pressure is hibiscus tea . Just as the name suggests, its made from hibiscus flowers. And when you make hibiscus tea, your tea isnt just healthy, its also a gorgeous red color.
Studies show, in people with stage 1 hypertension . drinking 2 cups of hibiscus tea each day is an effective medicine to reduce blood pressure.
Hibiscus is another source of polyphenol antioxidants. It works by protecting your blood vessels from damaging cholesterol plaques. Hibiscus also has compounds that cause nitric oxide to be released, so it works like a vasodilator and helps your blood vessels to widen.
Hibiscus works much like my other favorite blood pressure lowering drink beet juice.
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Your Genes Play A Huge Part In Your Risk
Based on those studies alone, it appears youre in the clear to indulge every day
But its not that straight forward.
Not all the large observational studies found that regular coffee consumption is harmless. A possible reason for the inconsistent findings is that the population varies in underlying responses to caffeine.
How well we metabolise and tolerate caffeine is determined by our genes.
Individual genetic variations influence how our body reacts to external factors, especially how it reacts to the nutrients we eat. Genetic variations can influence metabolism for loads of nutrients such as alcohol , folate and folic acid , and caffeine too.
Depending on your genes, you may be a fast caffeine metaboliser or a slow one. This greatly influences how your blood pressure responds to coffee, as well as your heart disease risk .
Sadly, Im a super slow caffeine metaboliser, which is why I drink decaf.
Therefore, although caffeine only raises blood pressure short-term, those who are slow caffeine metabolisers and consume large amounts of coffee are probably at greater risk of negative cardiovascular health consequences.
In other words, if you are sensitive to caffeine and already have high blood pressure, it would be in your best interest to minimise intake or drink decaf where possible.
What To Eat To Lower Your Blood Pressure
Rolled oats
A review with five research trials included tested the impact of oats on systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure in about 400 healthy adults.
The researchers found that systolic blood pressure was 2.7 mmHg lower and diastolic blood pressure was 1.5 mmHg lower when participants ate around 60 grams of rolled oats or 25 grams of oat bran per day.
This quantity of oats or oat bran contains around four grams of a type of fibre called beta-glucan.
For each extra one gram of total daily fibre, there was an extra 0.11 mmHg reduction in diastolic blood pressure.
Recommended minimum daily adult fibre intakes are 30 grams for men and 25 grams for women.
While some of fibres effect is due to weight loss, soluble fibres produce bioactive products when theyre fermented in the large bowel. These work directly to lower blood pressure.
To improve your blood pressure, eat rolled oats or oat bran for breakfast, add to meat patties, or mix with breadcrumbs in recipes that call for crumbing.
Beetroot
Beetroot is extremely rich in a compound called inorganic nitrate. During digestion, this gets converted into nitric oxide, which causes arteries to dilate. This directly lowers the pressure in them.
A review of 16 trials of mostly healthy young men found drinking beetroot juice was associated with a 4.4 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure. But it found no change in diastolic blood pressure.
Vitamin C
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Does Coffee Raise Blood Pressure Time To Clarify The Confusion
Home » High Blood Pressure » Does Coffee Raise Blood Pressure? Time To Clarify The Confusion
Coffee is one of the worlds most popular drinks.
Taste and social value aside, its generally considered a health food and is linked to numerous metabolic health benefits.
However, there is a lot of confusion around its impact on blood pressure.
Many foods are shown to be beneficial, but does coffee raise blood pressure? Is there more to consider if you already have high blood pressure?
This article digs through the current research to clarify any confusion.
Contents
Does Caffeine Raise Blood Pressure
To be clear, caffeine does actually affect blood pressure. When you consume caffeine, whether it be from coffee, an energy drink, or supplement, one of its effects is to spike your blood pressure.
Caffeine raises blood pressure by blocking adenosine, a compound that helps blood vessels stay relaxed and open. Without the adenosine, blood vessels constrict, the heart must work harder to move blood through your system, and so the pressure rises.
This rise kicks off within 15 minutes of consumption and can last 4-6 hours. If you dont consume more, things should return to normal.
Many of us are in this position. We like our coffee or energy drink or soda or tea, and we pay no thought to the consequences of that little burst of blood pressure. Why? Because we never notice.
Hypertension, as stated above, has many risk factors, so you might get it irrespective of your caffeine consumption. If you get hypertension though, that spike in blood pressure can be serious, and caffeine will be one of the first things off the list if you get diagnosed with it.
For a small subset of us, our genetics make this all better or worse, depending on one little gene variant.
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Caffeine And Blood Pressure Response Over Sex Age And Hormonal Status
Caffeine may impact blood pressure depending on your age and gender, but exactly how much is unclear, and likely unimportant for most of the population. The only group that might want to be careful about caffeine intakeor at least monitor its effect on blood pressureare people over 70. And women over 70 should be the most careful, if they are hypertensive.
I dont think caffeine poses any severe risks to people with blood pressure in the normal range, and it doesnt have to be avoided. There is really no solid science pointing to potential dangers, regardless of sex or age. If you drink a coffee or two in the morning and feel OK, I see no reason to stop.
But if you have high blood pressure or are hypertensive, it might be worthwhile switching to decaf. Ultimately, your current blood pressure is the determining factor on whether or not caffeine can pose a risk.
How Sitting Affects Blood Pressure
Theres an excellent article here that goes into more detail on the ins and outs of how sitting affects blood pressure as well as other aspects of your health: The health risks of prolonged sitting
Basically, sitting can raise blood pressure because being seated for long spells can slow the metabolism. It can also affect our ability to regulate our blood pressure and our blood sugar and it can affect the way we process fat. All these things have an impact on our blood pressure, directly or indirectly.
Oh, and sitting down a lot also can increase your risk of developing diabetes, dementia, obesity and cancer eek!
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List Of Food & Home Remedies For Hypotension
Licorice root: The licorice root is responsible for the healthy functioning of the kidneys. It helps excellent against chronic fatigue and gives a lot of energy. The licorice root can found in herbal liqueurs, cough syrups, and special teas.
Chocolate: Chocolate contains substance theobromine, which improves the heart rate and increases blood pressure. However, the dark chocolate variant should use, since it contains more cocoa and less sugar.
Salt: While most people have to pay attention to their salt consumption, hypotonic people are welcome to add more salt. The salt increases the sodium content in the blood, which is essential for blood pressure.
Spices: You may be wondering which spices can raise blood pressure? Spices such as rosemary, ginger, pepper, and chili warm you from the inside and stimulate the metabolism and increase blood pressure due to their aromatic substances. Alternatively, rosemary and ginger can also consume as a tea.
Caffeine Can Make Your Blood Pressure Climb
The next installment of Lifelines series on high blood pressure and how you can reduce your risk for this condition.
Whether its to jumpstart your day or to stay alert when working the night shift, if you have high blood pressure, think twice before reaching for that cup of coffee, can of soda or energy drink.
All of these beverages contain caffeine. So do a growing number of food products. Unfortunately, in addition to its ability to keep you awake and briefly boost your energy, caffeine can also make your blood pressure rise. While this spike is temporary, if you have high blood pressure 140/90 mm Hg or higher any increase can have serious consequences. High blood pressure increases the risk for heart disease and its related conditions, including heart attack, stroke and heart failure. One in every three Americans and one in every five Canadians have high blood pressure. Among Laborers, heart disease is responsible for more deaths than any other illness or workplace injury.
Caffeine
Caffeine is found naturally in a number of plants including the coffee bean, tea leaf, kola nut and cacao pod. The stimulating effects of caffeine on the central nervous system increased blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and urine output begin within 15 minutes of consumption and can last for more than six hours. This is why consuming caffeine late in the day can interfere with sleep, which in itself can increase risk for high blood pressure.
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