The Great Decaf Myth

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The Great Decaf Myth

by JAMES CHAPMAN, Daily Mail

 

Coffee drinkers who opt for decaffeinated in the belief that it will

not give them a buzz could be kidding themselves, scientists say.

 

A study suggests caffeine is not responsible for coffee's stimulant

effects and that even decaf can increase blood pressure or interrupt

sleep patterns for occasional drinkers.

 

The study into the effects of coffee found that blood pressure and

nervous system activity increased when occasional coffee drinkers had a

triple espresso, regardless of whether it contained caffeine.

 

However, those who drank coffee regularly appeared to be protected

against at least some of these effects, probably because they had

grown to tolerate it.

 

Dr Roberto Corti, a cardiologist from the University Hospital in

Zurich, Switzerland, said: 'We had expected to see that caffeinated

coffee increased blood pressure. But we were surprised to find that

decaffeinated coffee did the same.

 

'If you avoid ordinary coffee and take decaf instead, you will have

exactly the same effect. This is speculative, and we need to do

further studies, but it may also be that decaf coffee could lead to

sleeplessness among occasional drinkers.'

 

Researchers measured the blood pressure, heart rate and nervous

system activity of 15 healthy volunteers aged between 27 and 38. Six

of the group were habitual coffee drinkers. The others either did not

drink coffee or had it only occasionally.

 

Measurements were recorded before, during and after the volunteers

drank decaffeinated and normal triple espressos.

 

The occasional drinkers showed a rise in blood pressure after an hour

for both regular and decaffeinated espressos.

 

Both espressos also increased nervous system activity - by 29 per

cent after half-an-hour and 53 per cent after 60 minutes. Over-

activation of the nervous system has been linked to high blood

pressure.

 

Dr Corti said the research, published today in the medical journal

Circulation, suggested an unknown ingredient was responsible for

increasing heart rate and blood pressure.

 

'Until now, we have attributed the cardiovascular effects of coffee

to caffeine but we found non-coffee drinkers given decaffeinated

coffee also display these effects,' he said.

 

He suggested that people who had been advised to avoid coffee - such

as those with hypertension - might do best also to steer clear of

decaf.

 

 

Britons spend about £850 million a year on coffee. Bristol University

researchers have shown that drinking coffee each morning helps people

work more efficiently. But heavy consumption - of more than four cups a

day - has been linked to ill health.

 

Research also suggests that too much coffee can trigger miscarriage.

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