people who drink two or three cups of coffee a day they have the lower blood pressure than those who drink only one cup or none at all, according to research carried out by scientists from the University of Bologna and the Bologna University Hospital – Sant’Orsola Polyclinic (Italy).
The research, published in the scientific journal ‘Nutrients‘, analyzed the association between coffee consumption and blood pressure parameters peripheral and central, that is, the closest to the heart, in a sample of the Italian population.
“The results obtained show that those who drink coffee regularly have significantly lower blood pressure, both peripherally and centrally, than those who do not drink it,” he highlighted. Henry Cicero, first author of the study. “This is the first study to observe this association in the Italian population, and the data confirm the positive effect of coffee consumption on cardiovascular risk“, has added Claudio Borghiresearch leader.
“Those who drink coffee regularly have lower blood pressure, both peripherally and centrally, than those who do not”
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in Italy and in the world: it is estimated that in 2020 and 2021 almost 10 million tons of coffee were consumed worldwide.
However, it is not yet clear why these benefitswhat they do not appear to be directly related to the effects of caffeine.
“Caffeine is just one of several components in coffee, and certainly not the only one that plays an active role. In fact, positive effects on human health have been recorded even among those who consume decaffeinated coffee. We know that caffeine can increase blood pressure, but other bioactive components in coffee appear to counteract this effect with a positive end result on blood pressure levels,” Cicero said.
To investigate these effects, especially with regard to central blood pressure values, the investigators analyzed a sample of 720 men and 783 women from a subcohort of the Brisighella Heart Study, which is an observational study coordinated by Claudio Borghi. Blood pressure levels and coffee consumption habits were compared, along with another series of clinical data, of each selected individual.
“The results are very clear: the blood pressure peripheral was significantly lower in individuals who consumed one to three cups of coffee per day than in those who did not drink coffee. And for the first time, we were also able to confirm these effects with respect to the central aortic pressure, the one close to the heart, where we observed an almost identical phenomenon with totally similar values for regular coffee drinkers compared to non-drinkers,” Cicero summarized.
Indeed, the data show lower values for coffee drinkers both in systolic pressure and in pulse pressure, and in both peripheral circulation and central aortic pressure. All the results confirm the positive effects of coffee to mitigate the risk of cardiovascular diseases.