Can I drink coffee if I have high blood pressure?
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Hello, I am a 48 years old female. I have hypertension and when I was reading about a person having high blood pressure should avoid a few things. I read that I should decrease sodium content in my diet, and alcohol, etc. It was also mentioned that caffeine increases blood pressure. Is it true?
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@sharon Hello, Caffeine may cause a short, but dramatic increase in your blood pressure. Some researchers believe that caffeine could block a hormone that helps keep your arteries widened and caffeine causes your adrenal glands to release more adrenaline, which causes your blood pressure to increase. You should quit or decrease your caffeine intake. If you can’t quit caffeine avoid caffeine right before activities that naturally increase your blood pressure, such as exercise, weightlifting, or hard physical labor. To see if caffeine might be raising your blood pressure, check your blood pressure before drinking a cup of coffee or other caffeinated beverage and again 30 to 120 minutes afterward. If your blood pressure increases by about 5 to 10 points, you may be sensitive to the blood pressure-raising effects of caffeine. Then you should quit it. Consult your doctor as well. Thank you.