Abstract
The study aims to examine the relationship between habitual coffee consumption and blood pressure. The subjects were 3336 male self-defense officials aged 48–56 years, who received a preretirement health examination at the Self-Defense Forces Fukuoka Hospital between October 1986 and December 1992. Average coffee intake in the past year was ascertained by a self-administered questionnaire. A significant inverse relation between habitual coffee consumption and blood pressure was found with and without adjustment for alcohol use, cigarette smoking, body mass index, glucose tolerance, and green tea intake. Green tea, another major source of caffeine intake in Japanese, was unrelated to blood pressure. The adjusted mean differences per cup of coffee consumed per day were −0.6 mmHg (95% confident interval [CI]: −0.9 to −0.3, p=0.0001) in systolic blood pressure and −0.4 mmHg (95% CI: −0.5 to −0.2, p=0.0002) in diastolic blood pressure. Habitual coffee drinkers had lower blood pressure than non-drinkers at any levels of alcohol use, cigarette smoking, obesity, and glucose intolerance. Our findings consolidate the previous observation that habitual coffee consumption was associated with lower blood pressure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Freestone S, Ramsay LE. Pressor effect of coffee and cigarette smoking in hypertensive patients. Clin Sci 1982; 63(suppl 8): 403s-405s.
Robertson D, Frolich JC, Carr RK, Watson JT, Hollifield JW, Shand DG, et al. Effects of caffeine on plasma renin activity, catecholamines and blood pressure. N Engl J Med 1978; 298: 181–186.
Conrad KA, Blanchard J, Trang JM. Cardiovascular effects of caffeine in elderly men. J Am Geriatr Soc 1982; 30: 267–272.
Klatsky AL, Friedman GD, Siegelaub AB, Gerard MJ. Alcohol consumption and blood pressure: Kaiser-Permanente Multiphasic Health Examination Data. N Engl J Med 1977; 296: 1194–1200.
Periti M, Salvaggio A, Quaglia G, Di Marzio L. Coffee consumption and blood pressure: An Italian study. Clin Sci 1987; 72: 443–447.
Stensvold I, Tverdal A, Foss OP. The effect of coffee on blood lipids and blood pressure: Results from a Norwegian cross-sectional study, men and women, 40–42 years. J Clin Epidemiol 1989; 42: 877–884.
Salvaggio A, Periti M, Miano L, Zambelli C. Association between habitual coffee consumption and blood pressure levels. J Hypertens 1990; 8: 585–590.
Kirchhoff M, Torp-Pedersen C, Hougaard K, Jacobsen TJ, Sjol A, Munch M, et al. Casual blood pressure in a general Danish population: Relation to age, sex, weight, height, diabetes, serum lipids and consumption of coffee, tobacco and alcohol. J Clin Epidemiol 1994; 47: 469–474.
Lancaster T, Muir J, Silagy C. The effects of coffee on serum lipids and blood pressure in a UK population. J R Soc Med 1994; 87: 506–507.
Dawber TR, Kannel WB, Gordon T. Coffee and cardiovascular disease: Observations from the Framingham study. N Engl J Med 1974; 291: 871–874.
Bertrand CA, Pomper I, Hillman G, Duffy JC, Michell J. No relation between coffee and blood pressure. N Engl J Med 1978; 299: 315–316.
Lang T, Degoulet P, Aime F, Fouriaud C, Jacquinet-Salord M, Laprugne J, et al. Relation between coffee drinking and blood pressure: Analysis of 6321 subjects in the Paris region. Am J Cardiol 1983; 52: 1238–1242.
Kono S, Imanishi K, Shinchi K, Yanai F. Relationship of diet to small and large adenomas of the sigmoid colon. Jpn J Cancer Res 1993; 84: 13–19.
Kono S, Shinchi K, Ikeda N, Yanai F, Imanishi K, Handa K. Lifestyles, glucose tolerance and blood pressure in male self-defence officials in northern Kyushu, Japan. J Hum Hypertens 1992; 6: 101–105.
Wakabayashi K, Nakamura K, Kono S, Shinchi K, Imanishi K. Alcohol consumption and blood pressure: An extended study of self-defence officials in Japan. Int J Epidemiol 1994; 23: 307–311.
Kono S, Shinchi K, Imanishi K, Todoroki I, Hatuse K. Coffee and serum gamma-glutamyltransferase: A study of self-defense officials in Japan. Am J Epidemiol 1994; 139: 723–727.
World Health Organization Expert Committee on Diabetes Mellitus. World Health Organization technical report series no. 646. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1980; 8–14.
SAS Institute Inc. SAS user's guide: Statistics, version 5ed. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. 1985.
Zimmet P. Type 2 (non insulin dependent) diabetes: An epidemiological overview. Diabetologia 1982; 22: 399–411.
Modan M, Halkin H, Almog S, Lusky A, Eshkol A, Shefi M, et al. Hyperinsulinemia: A link between hypertension, obesity and glucose intolerance. J Clin Invest 1985; 75: 809–817.
Van Dusseldorp M, Smits P, Lenders JWM, Thien T, Katan MB. Boiled coffee and blood pressure: A 14–week controlled trial. Hypertension 1991; 18: 607–613.
Superko HR, Bortz W, Williams JPT, Albers JJ, Wood PD. Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee effects on plasma lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoproteins, and lipase activity: A controlled, randomized trial. Am J Clin Nutr 1991; 54: 599–605.
Bak AAA, Grobbee DE. A randomized study on coffee and blood pressure. J Hum Hypertens 1990; 4: 259–264.
Robertson D, Frolich JC, Carr RK, Watson JT, Hollifield JW, Shand DG, et al. Effects of caffeine on plasma renin activity, catecholamines and blood pressure. N Engl J Med 1978; 298: 181–186.
Robertson D, Wade D, Workman R, Woosley RL, Oates JA. Tolerance to the humoral and hemodynamic effects of caffeine in man. J Clin Invest 1981; 67: 1111–1117.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wakabayashi, K., Kono, S., Shinchi, K. et al. Habitual coffee consumption and blood pressure: A study of self-defense officials in Japan. Eur J Epidemiol 14, 669–673 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007478522638
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007478522638