Blood pressure and caffeine

[matty2670]

I am on medication for slightly (but constantly) high blood pressure. There is no history of hypertension in my family but I have been drinking loads of black coffee at work for the last few years. Could this have made a difference, and should I stop drinking so much of it? (I only ask as I heard someone mention it on Coronation Street tonight..!)

[Amelie P]

Excessive caffeine consumption will at the very least increase your stress levels. You will have greater adrenalin rushes, poorer quality sleep and will generally be unable to truly unwind. DON'T cut caffeine completely though s you'll possibly have withdrawal symptoms like irritability and headaches. Try replacing some of those black coffees with black tea (lower caffeine levels) or take herbal teas instead and try to cut out any caffeine after 6pm.

[bondy]

High blood pressure can be can be affected by lots of things but noone has proved what causes it. You may have it for no reason but caffeine is likely to make it rise. The trouble with medication is it is difficult to assess if you can lower it naturally once you are on it.
You may be overweight, stressed have high cholesterol, smoke etc etc.You should have heard all that from your Dr!
But if you're on medication your blood pressure should be normal or you should be on a different dose. So maybe you should check that out.

[Buenchico]

If you trawl through the web looking for advice about 'sensible' or 'safe' limits for drinking coffee, you'll find a lot of contradictory advice. Once you've eliminated the 'extreme' and 'downright cranky' views however, you'll find that there seems to be general agreement on the following:

1. Drinking coffee, in moderate quantities (see below), has no harmful effects and might well be beneficial.

2. The definition of 'moderate' has to take into account both the size of the cups/mugs and the strength of the coffee. However, based upon a heaped spoonful of instant coffee being regarded as the basis for a single 'cup', there seems to be agreement that 3 cups per day can be regarded as both 'moderate' and 'safe'.

Stating that virtually all responsible authorities agree that 3 cups per day is 'OK' is not the same, however, as saying that they all agree that more than 3 cups is harmful. Many 'experts' see no reason to be concerned about consumption levels at much higher levels (although some prefer to recommend a maximum of 3 cups) but there still seem to be a number of unanswered questions about possible health hazards.

While coffee consumption might not directly lead to hypertension, it should be remembered that caffeine is a diuretic which can lead to dehydration of the body. This, in turn, results in 'thickening' of the blood which can be a cause of hypertension.

Chris

PS: At college I drank 20 to 30 mugs of coffee a day, usually made with 2 or 3 heaped spoonfuls of Nescafe (i.e. effectively between 40 and 90 'normal' cups per day) and, although it's now 30 years later, I've not dropped dead yet!

[matty2670]

Thanks to you all for taking the time to post your answers, it is much appreciated. Take care, Matt.

[Why??]

hi, my hubbie went through a phase of drinking a lot of coffee, and it turned him into a bit or a wreak for a while, his heart would race and he would be very restless, we didn't realise it was the coffee at the time as he was in a stressfull job, but as soon as he realised it could be the coffee he eased of it and has felt fine ever since. Another way to reduce the amount without withdrawing completely is to replace half a spoonfull(assuming you have 1 teaspoon) with half a spoon of decaff. hope that helps.