Caffeine And High Blood Pressure: understanding how they go Together
Equating the dangers of caffeine and high blood pressure is often likened to that of a lit match and gasoline, in that they should be kept as far apart as possible. However, some researchers suggest that since caffeine only causes a temporary increase in blood pressure, it does not necessarily have to be eliminated completely.
Caffeine can be found in numerous drinks, not just coffee, and if your doctor suggests reducing or eliminating caffeine, all other drinks in which it is found will also have to be removed. Caffeine and high blood pressure, as most physicians believe, just simply do not belong together.
While there is no proven link that caffeine causes high blood pressure, if a person has an elevated blood pressure or hypertension, it may be wise to reduce its intake. Even the temporary spike in blood pressure from caffeine can be dangerous to a person with high blood pressure.
There may be a few people who develop a tolerance for caffeine and high blood pressure who thus are not affected by it, but it is best to heed the advice from your doctor before resuming an unregulated supply.
Getting the Taste Without the Kick
For those people who simply are not able to go without the cup of their morning brew, decaffeinated versions of coffee, tea and soft drinks abound. Some folks enjoy the taste of coffee but some people even without high blood pressure do not appreciate the temporary boost that comes from caffeine; regardless, caffeine and high blood pressure do not go together well.
If a patient has a pre-hypertension blood pressure that is up to 140 over 90, may be advised to ingest less caffeine to prevent the blood pressure from spiking into the high levels. A person with high blood pressure, however, should limit their caffeine to prevent the caffeine and high blood pressure from causing even more health problems.
It is also not advisable to drink something containing caffeine just prior to a blood pressure test. This slight increase in pressure may give the physician a false high reading leading to a misdiagnosis of high blood pressure. Some physicians even recommend a fasting diet prior to a blood pressure test, but eating and drinking normally prior to one usually isn’t an issue.
For a person who consumes a lot of caffeine and high blood pressure is a concern, the best course would be to reduce or eliminate the caffeine, regardless of its source. Your blood pressure won’t know if the caffeine is from coffee, tea of soft drink.
|