How does caffeine affect your heart?

Some researchers believe that caffeine could block a hormone that helps keep your arteries widened. Others think that caffeine causes your adrenal glands to release more adrenaline, which causes your blood pressure to increase.

Short-term effects of coffee on blood pressure: coffee tends to increase short-term blood pressure slightly. When we ingest caffeine, we tend to experience an increase in “excitement”— especially in our cardiovascular system.

For most healthy individuals, this excitement causes our heart rate and blood pressure to rise and then lower back down to baseline levels. Therefore, moderate coffee consumption is considered safe for individuals who don’t have any pre-existing cardiovascular condition.

What does “moderate” consumption mean?

A Cup of coffee contains more caffeine than a cup of tea (also depends on the type of beans)

For adults who are not pregnant or breastfeeding a maximum of 400mg of caffeine per day and no more than 200mg in one sitting. Research shows that a caffeine intake of up to 400 milligrams a day is safe for most average-sized adults. That equals about two cups of coffee per day.

However, having a high caffeine intake can cause harmful side effects. More than four cups of coffee a day can raise your heart rate and blood pressure, increase stress levels and increase your risk for a heart attarckor stroke. This is especially relevant for people who are not used to consuming large amounts of caffeine.

400 milligrams of caffeine equals two cups of coffee. But what about our other favorite caffeine drinks? How does that calculates?

Here are some tips for you:

• Espresso: 240 -720 mg
• Energy drinks: 50 -160 mg
• Brewed tea: 40 - 120 mg
• Soft drinks: 20 - 40 mg

However, drinking more than 500 mg of caffeine per day can cause caffeine intoxication. This includes uncomfortable and sometimes serious symptoms, such as:

• High blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Panic attacks
• Increased gastric acid
• Bowel irritability
• Anxiety

Whether you are drinking more caffeine than the recommended daily amount, you’re feeling the side effects of too much caffeine or you simply want to consume less, you can ease up with a few relatively easy changes.

For some, reducing their caffeine intake is as simple. However, for others, significantly reducing their intake may be necessary. Try swapping a caffeinated drink for a non-caffeinated one, such as:

• Decaf coffee
• Caffeine-free herbal tea
• Sparkling water in place of a soft drink or caffeinated energy drink

This material was prepared using heartfoundation.org data.