A recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that people with severe high blood pressure (HTN) who drank two or more cups of coffee per day had a double the long-term risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than people who don′t drink coffee.

Data from 18,609 participants were used in the analysis. Their baseline blood pressure was divided into five categories: high normal (130-139/85-89 mm Hg), grade 1 HTN (140-159/90-99 mm Hg), grade 2 HTN (160-179/100-109 mm Hg), and grade 3 HTN (> 180/110 mm Hg). Optimal and normal blood pressure was defined as less than 130/85 mm Hg.

Participants in a survey were asked how often and how much coffee and green tea they drank. They were divided into four categories for daily coffee intake and six categories for daily green tea consumption. Over a median follow-up of 19 years, 842 participants died in total.

Only those with grade 2-3 HTN and daily coffee intake of two or more cups were related to an elevated risk for CVD death. Comparing people with severe HTN who did not drink coffee, the adjusted hazard ratio was 2.05 (95% CI, 1.17–3.59). People with optimum and normal, high-normal, and grade 1 hypertension did not exhibit these correlations. Across all BP categories, drinking green tea was not linked to an elevated risk of CVD.

The study concluded that high coffee drinking increased the risk of CVD mortality among those with severe hypertension but not in those with grade 1 or no hypertension. In contrast, the consumption of green tea was not linked to an elevated risk of CVD mortality across all BP groups.

(Source: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/986018#vp_1)