Many of my patients with coronary artery disease, diabetes, or hypertension have been warned at various times in their lives to avoid caffeinated coffee because they had been informed that drinking caffeinated coffee could result in increased blood pressure, worsening of diabetic control, and might even trigger a myocardial infarction. Some of my patients also worry that drinking caffeinated coffee might cause cancer. This editorial will briefly cite the now-voluminous evidence that caffeinated coffee in moderate doses (1-3 cups per day in some studies and more in other investigations) is not associated with clinically relevant increases in blood pressure, serum cholesterol levels, myocardial infarction, or various malignancies.
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— Joseph S. Alpert, MD
This article was originally published in the July 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
