More on coffee: Cola, not coffee, raises blood pressure ------------------------------ By Harvard Health Publications "I love coffee; I love tea; I love the java jive, and it loves me. …" Mos= t "caf-fiends" can identify with the lighthearted "Java Jive." But many peopl= e have serious concerns about caffeinated coffee. One worry is high blood pressure. We know that a cup of coffee can temporarily boost blood pressure= , but does a regular coffee habit cause a chronic condition? *Caffeinated coffee actually confers some benefits, lowering the risk for diabetes, colon cancer, gallstones, and Parkinson's disease, and improving cognitive function and physical endurance*. *A November 2005 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) continues the good news — concluding that there's no link between coffee and hypertension*. But the news isn't all good. Cola drinkers, listen up. The *JAMA* study — by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Harva= rd School of Public Health — drew on data from the Nurses' Health Study, whi= ch has tracked the health and habits of more than 200,000 registered nurses since 1976. The researchers used food frequency questionnaires and medical reports to analyze the relationship between caffeine intake and the development of hypertension over a 12-year period. *They found no link between coffee drinking (caffeinated or decaffeinated) and hypertension in women who didn't have the condition at the start of the study.* For tea drinkers, there was a slightly increased risk only among younger participants (age 26–46 at the start of the study). The truly surprising results were for cola drinkers. Women who drank the most colas — four cans or more per day, sugared or di= et — increased their risk of high blood pressure by 16%–44%. (Sugar-free c= olas were somewhat less of a problem, but both elevated risk.) The authors couldn't explain why colas would have this effect, although they noted such drinks contain caramel coloring "rich in advanced glycation end products," or AGEs. AGEs are unstable compounds that can result from the cooking, heating, or oxidation of carbohydrates. They've been linked to several chronic conditions, and some research suggests they may play a role in hypertension= . But the authors of the *JAMA* study caution that it's too early to make any recommendations about cola-drinking and hypertension |
Im not suprised, cola's have all that sugar and all kinds of carbonated chemical caca in them. Even the CO2 to make it bubble, when you think about it, is a waste product our body normally expels. When ones CO2 level goes up in the blood, the heart pumps a bit faster trying to get the co2 out via the lungs and o2 levels back to normal.... hence the possible hypertensive affects. When someone suffocates, (like being stuck in a closed container for example... ie kids in a refridgerator as an example) besides mafia style with a bag around the head, many times they end up dying of a heart attack because the heart rate increases so fast due to the co2 levels in the blood being so high that it just finally explodes or gives out. You go eating or drinking garbage, you are going to end up with consequences from it. Aaron |
You know, I am tepid on all the pro-caffeine studies. I guess I just
don't trust this stuff - BUT I think that the caffeine scares (well,
going back to the late 1800s-early 20th Century, sponsored greatly by
Postum ... and most recently I think the mid-70s had a lot of horror
studies) overstate the case, as well as the recent barrage of
pro-caffeine research, some blatantly industry sponsored (although
this seems not to be...).
Fact is, drink 24 cups of coffee a day*, you will have problems. Be
moderate, listen to your body, you should be okay. Dumb common sense,
maybe I trust it more than I should ...
Tom
* that was the equivalent dosage the rats received in the 70s study.
By Harvard Health Publications
"I love coffee; I love tea; I love the java jive, and it loves me. Š"
Most "caf-fiends" can identify with the lighthearted "Java Jive." But
many people have serious concerns about caffeinated coffee. One worry
is high blood pressure. We know that a cup of coffee can temporarily
boost blood pressure, but does a regular coffee habit cause a chronic
condition?
Caffeinated coffee actually confers some benefits, lowering the risk
for diabetes, colon cancer, gallstones, and Parkinson's disease, and
improving cognitive function and physical endurance . A November 2005
study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
continues the good news - concluding that there's no link between
coffee and hypertension. But the news isn't all good. Cola drinkers,
listen up.
The JAMA study - by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the
Harvard School of Public Health - drew on data from the Nurses'
Health Study, which has tracked the health and habits of more than
200,000 registered nurses since 1976. The researchers used food
frequency questionnaires and medical reports to analyze the
relationship between caffeine intake and the development of
hypertension over a 12-year period. They found no link between coffee
drinking (caffeinated or decaffeinated) and hypertension in women who
didn't have the condition at the start of the study. For tea
drinkers, there was a slightly increased risk only among younger
participants (age 26-46 at the start of the study). The truly
surprising results were for cola drinkers.
Women who drank the most colas - four cans or more per day, sugared
or diet - increased their risk of high blood pressure by 16%-44%.
(Sugar-free colas were somewhat less of a problem, but both elevated
risk.) The authors couldn't explain why colas would have this effect,
although they noted such drinks contain caramel coloring "rich in
advanced glycation end products," or AGEs.
AGEs are unstable compounds that can result from the cooking,
heating, or oxidation of carbohydrates. They've been linked to
several chronic conditions, and some research suggests they may play
a role in hypertension. But the authors of the JAMA study caution
that it's too early to make any recommendations about cola-drinking
and hypertension
--
"Great coffee comes from tiny roasters"
Sweet Maria's Home Coffee Roasting - Tom & Maria
http://www.sweetmarias.com Thompson Owen george_at_sweetmarias.com
Sweet Maria's Coffee - 1115 21st Street, Oakland, CA 94607 - USA
phone/fax: 888 876 5917 - tom_at_sweetmarias.com |
"Fact is, drink 24 cups of coffee a day*, you will have problems." The least of which would be finding me. You know where I'd be... ro Feasibility Studies- can't live without 'em- On 4/20/06, Tom & Maria - Sweet Maria's Coffee |
On 4/20/06, Tom & Maria - Sweet Maria's Coffee wrote: <Snip> My only question: Is that measuring cups, 5oz cups or big fat travel mugs full of coffee? I like the big fat travel mugs :-) Aaron Peterson Versailles, KY |
Well said,,,,,,, everthing in moderation.................. <Snip> |
Just for yucks I pulled the study. Most of what you hear reported in the press is based on retrospective observational studies which at best are highly suspect - they're basically data mining which produces all sorts of spurious correlations, that for reasons that still escape me, get published. This particular article came out of the Nurses Health Study which is a large prospective cohort study with about 160K participants tracked since 1976. It is fairly well respected. They didn't seem to find any effect from caffeine either as total consumption or broken out into tea or coffee individually. There does seem to be some elevated risk for people consuming sugared cola beverages, but ... The problem with observational studies is that there are all sorts of errors involved. As a result we tend to discount small effects, even if they're statistically significant. The rule of thumb for observational studies (as compared to clinical trials, controlled experiments, etc.) is that if the effect is between reducing the risk by 1/2 and less than increasing the risk by 2x you want to be careful in interpreting the result. The results here tend to be more in the range of plus of minus 10% and aren't statistically significant. Even the high end of the sugared cola group has an increase in risk of 44% but the confidence interval runs from a 2% decrease in risk to a 111% increase in risk. I think 150 years of public health research boils down to don't smoke, don't dump your sewage upstream, wear a bicycle helmet and practice moderation :-) --rick Tom & Maria - Sweet Maria's Coffee wrote: <Snip> |
Richard Hoffbeck wrote: <Snip> Statistical data is like a woman in a bikini: what's visible is interesting; what's covered up is vital. I'm so glad I decided to not go into research after school. I had the inside track with some heavy-hitter type research profs who I worked for. The work-study job was fascinating and we produced well received work, but the research world was just a bit out of touch with the world around me at the time.... I mean, those beaches in south Florida were HAPPENNING man! cheers, ScoTTT |
Hi Scott, Yeah, nutritional stuff is hard to do right and there is just so much junk out there that I ignore most of it. I just got back into research. I'd spent most of the 90's doing network stuff, took a year off, and when I was lining up references one of my old bosses from the U asked if I'd like to come back. I said sure. Its a good group doing quality research. The money isn't great but I'm to that age where free time is a lot more useful than money. Last week I got to spend two days at a workshop on computational genomics and next week is a day long session on using GPS/GIS for public health research. Fun stuff. Now if I can just convince them that a super auto is a piece of lab equipment I'll be set :-) Have a nice day. --rick Scott Miller wrote: <Snip> |