Japanese medical experts have discovered that if patients with high blood pressure consume two or more cups of coffee per day, the risk of them dying from cardiovascular disease will double.
After eliminating people with cancer risks, the research team selected 18,609 participants, including 6,574 men and 12,035 women.
The selected participants were divided into five blood pressure groups: the best to regular blood pressure group (lower than 130/85 mm HG), the normal to high blood pressure group (between 130-139/85-89 mm HG), level I high blood pressure group (between 140-159/90-99 mm HG), level II high blood pressure group (between 160-179/100-109 mm HG) and level III high blood pressure group (higher than 180/110 mm HG).
Among the five groups, level II and level III blood pressure groups were classified as severe high blood pressure patients.
All participants were between 40 and 79 years old when the research began.
Through collecting data from self-management questionnaires of health checks, lifestyle evaluation, and dietary and medical history, researchers analyzed all collected data and uncovered something crucial.
The two groups with severe high blood pressure (higher than 160/100 mm HG) had twice the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by drinking two cups or more coffee a day compared to people who did not consume coffee.
However, the deaths of participants drinking a cup of coffee daily in all blood pressure categories had no increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Dr. Iso said, “The purpose of our study is to determine the impact coffee has on patients with different blood pressure degrees and to study the efficacy of green tea simultaneously.”
Although both coffee and green tea contain caffeine, green tea contains polyphenols which are micronutrients. Green tea is also antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.
Consuming green tea will not affect patients’ risks of dying from high blood pressure partly because of polyphenols.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a standard cup of green tea or black tea are 8 ounces, containing 30 to 50 milligrams of caffeine.
Conversely, coffee of the same capacity contains 80 mg to 100 mg of caffeine. It explains why drinking tea is better for blood pressure patients.
The National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Japan conducted the group study along with the Department of Public Health Medicine of the University of Tsukuba and the Department of Medicine of Hokkaido University.
Junko Tokunaga, a doctor of medicine at Tokyo University, said in an interview with The Epoch Times on Dec. 28, 2022, the living and dietary habits of Asia compared to Europe and America vary greatly.
The total intake of coffee in Asia is relatively lower than in Europe and the United States.
Tokunaga pointed out that her coffee intake had increased recently due to the pandemic. She said she would unconsciously drink more coffee as stress built up. “At the end of the day, everyone should enjoy caffeine based on their health conditions and use science as a reference.”
