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Effect of coffee and tea drinking on postprandial hypotension in older men and women
1University Department of Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia, Australia.
Insights
Coffee and tea may help reduce blood pressure drops after meals in older adults. However, coffee might raise fasting diastolic blood pressure in those with untreated hypertension.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Gerontology
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Postprandial hypotension (a drop in blood pressure after eating) poses risks like falls and reduced brain blood flow, especially in older adults.
- Hypertension and its medications may exacerbate postprandial hypotension.
- Caffeine's effect on postprandial blood pressure is inconsistent.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of coffee and tea on postprandial blood pressure changes in older adults.
- To compare these effects across normotensive, untreated hypertensive, and treated hypertensive individuals.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 171 healthy non-smokers over 50.
- Interventions included coffee consumption, caffeine abstinence, and tea consumption (in treated hypertensives only).
- Blood pressure and heart rate were measured under various conditions before and after interventions.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in postprandial blood pressure falls were found related to hypertension status or medication.
- Coffee drinkers showed increased fasting diastolic blood pressure in the untreated hypertensive group.
- Coffee significantly reduced postprandial systolic blood pressure falls in normotensives.
- Tea and coffee consumption were associated with reduced postprandial systolic blood pressure falls in treated hypertensives.
Conclusions:
- Both tea and coffee show potential benefits in mitigating postprandial systolic blood pressure drops in older adults.
- Coffee consumption may lead to elevated fasting diastolic blood pressure in individuals with untreated hypertension.
Abstract:
1. A postprandial fall in blood pressure (BP) in older men and women increases the risks of falls and impaired cerebral perfusion. Postprandial hypotension has been suggested to be greater in hypertensive subjects, particularly in those on antihypertensive medication. 2. Caffeine, given as tablets or as strong coffee, may attenuate postprandial falls in BP in older subjects, but findings are not consistent. 3. In a randomized controlled intervention in 171 healthy non-smokers over the age of 50 years, we compared the effects of coffee-drinking with abstaining from caffeine in normotensives (NT), untreated hypertensives (UNHT) and subjects on drug treatment for hypertension (TRHT). Tea drinking was a third intervention used only in TRHT. 4. After adjustment for the effects of the initial value on changes in BP, there were no significant differences related to hypertension or to hypertensive agents in the magnitude of postprandial falls in BP. 5. After the intervention, changes in fasting supine and standing systolic BP and heart rate (HR) were not significantly different from controls in NT, UNHT and TRHT, but fasting supine and standing diastolic BP were significantly higher in coffee drinkers in the UNHT group. 6. In normotensive coffee drinkers there was a significant reduction in the postprandial fall in supine systolic BP of 4.1 mmHg (+/- s.e.m. 1.1) and in standing systolic BP of 5.2 +/- 1.6 mmHg. Among untreated hypertensives, abstainers showed a significant attenuation of the postprandial fall in supine, but not standing, systolic BP. Among treated hypertensives who were tea drinkers the postprandial fall decreased for supine systolic BP by 3.8 +/- 1.2 mmHg (P = 0.029) and for standing systolic BP by 5.2 +/- 2.1 mmHg. 7. Both tea and coffee were potentially beneficial in decreasing postprandial falls in systolic BP, but coffee drinking may increase fasting diastolic pressures in untreated hypertensives.