It's no surprise to my friends and family that I pride
myself on living a healthy lifestyle. This is why, I
suppose only half-joking, that they refer to my Grande
coffee from Starbucks as my "vice."
A friend recently told me to "watch out," while at Starbucks
the other day as I drank my coffee because her doctor told
her that coffee can contribute to high blood pressure, or
hypertension.
Watch out? My friend was telling me this quite literally,
as she was exhaling cigarette smoke. Did her doctor mention
that this behavior is far more a contributor to high
blood pressure?
Did the doctor actually state that more than anything, my
friend's overindulgence in food, smoking and sometimes
alcohol largely caused her hypertension but she only heard
"coffee?" Hard to know but I was curious, why did the
doctor even list coffee as a contributor?
To date, there is no definitive evidence that coffee leads
to the development of high blood pressure.
Some studies have shown that drinking coffee does raise
one's blood pressure slightly, but only temporarily. In
fact, these same studies have shown that over time, this
slight increase in blood pressure is reduced.
Researchers are starting to notice that the reason coffee is
so often associated with the actual contributors to
hypertension (cigarettes, and obesity) is because many
people tend to combine drinking coffee with these bad
behaviors.
Does this mean that coffee causes hypertention? No - it is
not coffee's fault that some people cannot drink a cup of
coffee without partnering it with cigarettes and/or over
eating.
While I'm always excited to read about amazing results from
people who've given up coffee and reduced their blood
pressure, I'm even more interested in knowing what other bad
behaviors where dropped when these people gave up coffee.
I believe moderation truly is the key as far as coffee (and
well, everything) is concerned. I like my coffee and will
continue to drink my occasional cup until proven otherwise.
