Coffee and Blood Pressure

A new study suggests that coffee lovers who are in good health may have little reason to cut back, at least as far as their blood pressure is concerned.

There has been some concern that coffee drinking may raise the risk of high blood pressure. However, in a new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found evidence that this is not entirely true.

According to the study, healthy women who drank up to six cups of coffee per day were no more likely than abstainers to develop high blood pressure over the next decade. Those women who drank coffee occasionally or in moderation had a higher risk of developing high blood pressure than the heavy coffee drinkers or those who didn’t drink coffee at all.

For men, the risk of high blood pressure did not significantly increase or decrease; regardless of how much coffee they drank each day. However, men who didn’t drink coffee at all did have a lower risk than any coffee drinkers.

According to a researcher, even if coffee drinking contributes to blood pressure elevations in some people the studies have failed to show that it actually raises the risk of heart disease in healthy people. However, he stressed that the study focused on adults in good general health and that the findings do not pertain to people with high blood pressure or other risk factors that increase their odds of heart disease.

I think this was a good study to conduct because there seems to be so much concern over the consumption of caffeine. This is proof that there is no reason that people shouldn’t be able to enjoy their coffee. As long as people take care of themselves they can drink away!

More Buzz

In response to a comment on my last post, I decided to find some more information on The Coca-Cola Co. decision to start labeling the caffeine content on all its products. Indeed, the Coca-Cola Co. did decide to do this voluntary and as part of an industry initiative.

The company said it had already included caffeine labeling on its energy drink Full Throttle and its green tea Enviga products and would introduce the new labels on its other brands, starting with cans of Coca-Cola Classic, in May.

Coca-Cola has taken a big step in the right direction. I'm glad to see that companies are realizing how important it is for people know what they are drinking.

In addition, a Democratic city councilman from Brooklyn, said he intended to introduce a nonbinding Council resolution calling for the Food and Drug Administration to require that caffeine content be included in product labels on food and beverages.

This is also a huge step and definately something that is long overdue. I just keep thinking that if this were already a requirement, products like Spike Shooter would've been pulled from the market sooner and the consumers like the students in Colorado may have avoided hospitalization.