Two or More Cups of Coffee Daily May Double Risk of Heart Death in People with Severe Hypertension

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, occurs when the force of blood pushing against the walls of blood vessels is consistently too high The current blood pressure guidelines classify hypertension as a blood pressure reading of 130/80 mm Hg or higher.

The blood pressure criteria for this study are slightly different from the ACC/AHA guidelines. Researchers classified blood pressure into five categories: optimal and normal (less than 130/85 mm Hg); high normal (130-139/85-89 mm Hg); grade 1 hypertension (140-159/90-99 mm Hg); grade 2 (160-179/100-109 mm Hg); and grade 3 (higher than 180/110 mm Hg). Blood pressure measures in grades 2 and 3 were considered severe hypertension in this study.

Study participants included more than 6,570 men and more than 12,000 women and during nearly 19 years of follow-up (through 2009), 842 cardiovascular-related deaths were documented. 

The data of the study showed:

-Drinking two or more cups of coffee a day was associated with twice the risk of cardiovascular disease death in people whose blood pressure was 160/100 mm Hg or higher compared to those who did not drink any coffee.

-Drinking one cup of coffee a day was not associated with increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease across any blood pressure categories.

-Green tea consumption was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality across any blood pressure categories.

From the study it can be concluded that drinking two or more cups of coffee a day may double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease among people with severe high blood pressure (160/100 mm Hg or higher) but not people with high blood pressure not considered severe.

The study also found that one cup of coffee and daily green tea consumption did not increase the risk of death related to cardiovascular disease at any blood pressure measurement, though both drinks contain caffeine.

---

Sources:

Masayuki Teramoto, Kazumasa Yamagishi, Isao Muraki, Akiko Tamakoshi, Hiroyasu Iso. Coffee and Green Tea Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among People With and Without Hypertension. Journal of the American Heart Association, 2022; DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.122.026477

American Heart Association. “Drinking 2 or more cups of coffee daily may double the risk of heart death in people with severe hypertension: Green tea, in contrast, did not increase mortality risk at any blood pressure level.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 December 2022. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221221090550.htm>.

Images from:

Photo by Fahmi Fakhrudin

https://unsplash.com/photos/nzyzAUsbV0M