Do you know what the problem with coffee studies is?
People with severe high blood pressure who drank two or more cups of coffee daily had twice the risk of death from heart disease in a Japanese study.
Source: Very High Blood Pressure? Limit Coffee Consumption, Study Says
Some people – perhaps half the population – have high sensitivity to caffeine. But coffee studies do not distinguish between those with high sensitivity and those with low sensitivity. The studies lump everyone together, producing false results. Valid studies must recognize they do not have an homogenous population.
Another problem is studies are based on “cups” – which is nominally about 6 ounces of brewed coffee. But no one on the planet drinks coffee in “cups” today (my parents drank it in 6-ounce cups – I know this because I have their cups and measured them). Today, everyone (in the U.S.) drinks from 12, 16 or 21 ounce paper cups, or gigantic coffee mugs.
- Further, how you make coffee changes the caffeine composition: Brewed? Filtered? French Press? Espresso machine?
- How long does your water stay in contact with the grounds?
- How much coffee grounds do you use to make your one-cup of filtered coffee or put in your French Press?
I was taught to use 2-3 tbs of coffee in the French Press – that could yield 150-300 grams of caffeine per cup!
Do you have a soda during the day? (Diet or not) Do you eat chocolate? Each of those has caffeine too. Food labels are not required to list caffeine content.
The result is you have no idea how much caffeine you are consuming each day – and it may be far in excess of the 100-300 grams most coffee studies examine.
I am writing this as someone who was nearly killed by coffee consumption
I am not exaggerating.
5 times in medical (2x) or dental (3x) offices in the past six months, I had BP readings in the 160-200 / 100-120 range. Shockingly high. Medicine had no explanation for this – and I underwent many tests to sort it out. 3 ECGs, a echo stress test of the heart, an ultrasound of my carotid arteries (also having visual migraines associated with this), and various blood tests – everything tested out fine.
When I charted my visual migraine start times by time of day, nearly all started between 8 am and 2 pm. I immediately thought of coffee. I discontinued coffee 12 days ago. Since then, my BP has fallen to typically 105-110/73 and my resting pulse in the low to mid-60s with a range of 57-67.
Coffee was on the verge of killing me.
A DNA genetic test finds that I have “high evidence” for “high caffeine sensitivity”. Literally, I have nearly all of the genetic markers for caffeine sensitivity.
I thought I was having 1-2 cups of coffee per day. In retrospect, seeing how the coffee was made and how much caffeine was extracted, my actual caffeine consumption was far greater.
What does caffeine sensitivity mean?
It means my body is slow to metabolize caffeine compared to others. For some, the half-life of caffeine may be 3-6 hours, for me, it might be 18 hours. That means caffeine is circulating in my body for far longer, impacting my body systems for far more hours. Further, if I were to consume additional caffeine a few hours later, that would pile on top of the caffeine still circulating in my body.
Coffee is not healthy for all and is highly dangerous to many. But our one half trillion $ coffee industrial complex is unstoppable. For an intense and high-speed overview of what coffee does to everyone – and especially those of us with high caffeine sensitivity – read the book Caffeine Blues by biochemist and nutritionist Stephen Cherniske[1]. Michael Pollan has also written a book on how food affects our brain, and coffee plays a big role in that; that book is on my future reading list.
The bottom line is that coffee was on the verge of killing me due to its effects on my blood pressure.
Now just 2 weeks off of caffeine I have seen numerous health improvements, many unexpected. Will be tracking this in the weeks ahead.
[1] I have removed the comment about Caffeine Blues. The author’s background is questionable such that I am concerned about the book he authored. The book may be entirely correct but that background info is concerning. He has removed his questionable Masters degree from his Linked In bio page.
It’s reminiscent of the 1980s health book “Eat to Win” by Dr. Robert Haas, as it was shown on the cover then. The Doctor title was from Columbia Pacific University, That program was shut by the State of California in 1996-1997 for basically being a diploma mill. The State said that some of the degrees were not legally valid in California and many states (including mine) declared degrees from CPU as invalid. Others referred to the program as a diploma mill. To some extent, CPU was a very early distance learning program that attracted students who could not relocate to a campus.
Later copies of the book now say “MS”, not Doctor. He had a legitimate Masters in nutrition. In both cases here, the authors have interesting things to say but their biographical embellishment causes a loss of trust.
Cherniske’s MS was also from Columbia Pacific University (appears in a list on this page that defends CPU).
While I know nothing of their CPU experience, it is known that many CPU degrees were granted for writing a dissertation only, with no other course work. Doctorates were awarded for less than one year’s work.
At lof these people were likely skilled, reasonably smart and ambitious and were indeed capable of great accomplishments. Unfortunately, we live in a world that demands titles and credentials – and even the most smart, skilled individuals might have had opportunities closed to them without the “right credential”. I totally get that because I ran into it myself – my two Masters degrees are from 100+ year old, well established, well known, accredited bricks and mortar universities.
But – earning a graduate degree in months, without course work – should have seemed a bit suspicious, shouldn’t it?
