Coffee intake has been long debated to be associated with increasing the blood pressure. Over the years, plenty of studies have published contradicting results, with some dismissing the link while most others establishing strong associations, resulting in just lot of confusion over a cuppa coffee.

To add to the confusion, in a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a team of researchers led by Dr.Cuno Uiterwaal found that healthy women who tried to moderate their intake of coffee had higher blood pressure compared to non-coffee drinkers. Strangely, women who drank more than 6 cups per day were protected from this risk.

This is a sharp contradiction to the earlier Johns Hopkins precursors study which concluded that every cup of coffee potentially raised systolic blood pressure by 0.19 mm Hg (95% CI) and diastolic pressure by 0.27 mm Hg (95% CI).

While the debate rages on, Dr.Uiterwaal and team may have given the much needed excuse for coffee lovers.

References:

1. Uiterwaal CSPM, Verschuren WMM, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB et al. Coffee intake and incidence of hypertension. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85, No. 3, 718-723, March 2007

2. Klag MJ, Wang NY, Meoni LA et al. Coffee intake and risk of hypertension: the Johns Hopkins precursors study. Arch Intern Med. 2002 Mar 25;162(6):657-62.