Does Coffee Cause High Blood Pressure?

For as long as I can remember I have been told that drinking coffee can lead you to high blood pressure. I have found out that it is untrue!

Researchers have studied the relationship between high blood pressure and coffee. In this study the researchers tracked 155,000 people that had no history of high blood pressure and tracked them for 12 years, to their surprise the facts showed that drinking your coffee had no effect on high blood pressure at all.There are benefits of coffee nutrition.

The fact is people drinking 4 or more cans of sugared, caffeinated soda had a 45% greater chance of getting hypertension than persons drinking just 1 can af pop a day.People that drink diet sodas were also at a greater risk but not as much as the sugared pop.

Soda pop without caffeine did not raise blood pressure, and neither did coffee whether it was decaf or regular coffee.

The question is why the caffeinated pop raise blood pressure while the coffee did not. The researchers have admitted they are baffled. But what is clear is that soda pop has no nutritional value whether regular or diet and should be avoided.

At the University of Minnesota researchers have completed an extensive 11 year study of almost 29000 people. Their findings were that your drinking more coffee could possibly cut your diabetes risk by 33%.

Don't think it's the caffeine. Decaf coffee drinkers did better than the people drinking regular brews. The lead researcher was Dr. Mark A. Pereira and he theorizes that the many antioxidents in the coffee could protect the insulin making cells in a persons pancreas.

And other studies conclude that the compounds in coffee could even lower your blood sugar levels.

Oh no, I found a disadvantage to drinking coffee. I am sure you know that odorous oils in onions, fish, garlic and even exotic spices linger in your body, but you should know that tea and coffee can also do the same. The reason is that they boost the activity of your sweat glands. You know what? I can live with this problem, I'm getting me a cup of coffee.

Caffeine also improves your physical endurance. Many studies
show that cyclists pedaled 7% harder and lasted
in competition a whopping 20% longer after taking caffeine.

Men that drank 4 to 5 cups of coffee every day had a whopping 40% lower risk for developing the dreaded gout than the men that drank no coffee.

And men that drank 6 or more cups of java per day had an amazing 59% decreased risk of gout.

The Reason: Gout which is a painful inflammatory disease and characterized by attacks of arthritis is caused by the excessive build up of uric acid.

and coffee does indeed tend to lower uric acid levels.

Interestingly, and as a bit of a side note, exposing muscle cells to caffeine had a similar effect on DNA methyl groups as the muscle contractions in the featured study.

However, this does not imply that you can trade exercise for a few cups of coffee and get the same results. There's a lot more involved. Coffee has both potential health benefits and potential hazards, so it needs to be consumed with some caution.

For more detailed information about coffee, please see my interview with Ori Hofmekler, who has studied the health impact of coffee in depth.

The most important factor to keep in mind is that coffee is a 'whole food,' and quality is everything. Coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed crops, so this is definitely an instance when you'll want to buy organic.

That said, the reason I include the mention of coffee here is because recent research, which Ori has written about in his book Unlock Your Muscle Gene^iv, has shown that coffee also triggers a mechanism in your brain that releases a growth factor called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which in turn:

1. Activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and
2. Expresses itself in your muscles by supporting the neuromotor, which is the most critical element in your muscle. Without the neuromotor, your muscle is like an engine without ignition, and neuro-motor degradation is part of the process that explains age-related muscle atrophy

What this means is that caffeine may help rejuvenate both brain- and muscle tissue! Research has also found that consuming the equivalent of two cups of coffee an hour before training can also help reduce post-workout muscle soreness by up to 48 percent,

Beating out both naproxen and aspirin in terms of effectiveness^v. Coffee increases your metabolism by up to 20 percent, according to Ori's research. And according to Ori, it can actually be quite beneficial if consumed before exercise. Ori has experimented using it before training, and claims it works.

"Coffee before training allows you fast energy to initiate your workout. For people who train in the morning, having coffee before training is a great advantage," he says.

However, you do want to be careful and moderate in the amounts you drink. Coffee can affect your adrenal glands so if you have an issue with decreased adrenal function, use care with coffee.

Also remember we're talking about black coffee—no sugar added. Ori recommends having just one cup of coffee or one shot of espresso in the morning or before training, and that's it for the day.

If you exercise in the morning, have your coffee prior to your workout, not after.

Courtesy of Mercola.com

If you enjoy that caffeine boost, drink coffee or tea. If you like the sugary, sweet drinks like pop try selzer mixed with fruit juice. Try it a week and you will forget about pop.