drinking Archives - First Washington News

January 16, 2023

Drinking too much coffee doubles mortality risk

Collage of cups of coffee on a white background — Drinking 2 or more cups of coffee daily may increase mortality rates in people with severe hypertension, researchers say. Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A recent study in Japan found a connection between drinking 2 or more cups of coffee per day and increased mortality rates in people with severe hypertension.
Severe hypertension is another way of describing high blood pressure.
The cohort study, which included just over 18,000 men and women, lasted nearly 2 decades.
While the study authors found that 2 or more cups of coffee raised the risk, they did not find any risks associated with 1 cup of coffee or green tea for people with severe hypertension.

While many people cannot get started in the morning without coffee, a recent study indicates that some may need to practice caution with their coffee consumption.

The researchers found that drinking 2 or more cups of coffee per day may double mortality rates in people with severe hypertension.

They also noted that 1 cup of coffee is 8 ounces — and that anything beyond that may pose health risks in people with severe high blood pressure.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), hypertension occurs when “the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels is consistently too high.”

Unhealthy lifestyle choices often lead to developing high blood pressure, such as eating foods high in cholesterol and not getting regular exercise. Additionally, health conditions like diabetes can factor into developing hypertension.

A blood pressure reading consists of two numbers: the systolic number (higher number) and the diastolic number (lower number).

The AHA includes five blood pressure categories:

normal blood pressure (less than 120 over less than 80)
elevated blood pressure (120–129 over less than 80)
high blood pressure or hypertension stage 1 (130–139 over 80–89)
high blood pressure or hypertension stage 2 (140 or higher over 90 or higher)
hypertensive crisis (higher than 180 over higher than 120)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high blood pressure can be a “silent killer” since people do not always experience symptoms and may not know they have high blood pressure unless they see a doctor regularly or self-monitor.

When high blood pressure is untreated, it can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

If someone is diagnosed with high blood pressure, they may treat it by making lifestyle changes or taking medications such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or calcium channel blockers.

The study authors used information from participants in the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk. They analyzed data from 18,609 people (6,574 men and 12,035 women).

The participants were 40 to 79 years old when the cohort study began between 1988 and 1990.

The cohort researchers took the participants’ blood pressure reading at the beginning of the study, as well as other medical background information and followed up with them over 18.9 years.

The coffee study authors were interested in how the participants’ coffee and green tea consumption habits factored into their blood pressure scores and heart-related deaths.

The researchers placed the participants into one of five categories based on their blood pressure readings (the categories vary somewhat from the AHA):

optimal and normal blood pressure (less than 130 over less than 85)
high‐normal blood pressure (130–139 over 85–89)
grade 1 hypertension (140–159 over 90–99)
grade 2 hypertension (160–179 over 100–109)
grade 3 hypertension (180 and higher over 110 and higher)

Since many participants did not have grade 2 and 3 hypertension, the researchers combined the data for these groups.

After placing the participants into categories based on their blood pressure readings, the researchers considered their coffee and green tea drinking habits. The participants indicated the frequency and amount of consumption.

For context, an 8-ounce coffee contains 95 to 200 mg of caffeine, making coffee more caffeinated than some energy drinks. Green tea contains approximately 35 mg of caffeine.

Over the course of the study follow-up, the researchers recorded 842 cardiovascular-related participant deaths.

The results of the study showed that people with grade 2 and 3 hypertension who drank 2 or more cups of coffee per day had twice the cardiovascular-related death mortality rate compared to people in the same category who did not drink coffee.

”These findings may support the assertion that people with severe high blood pressure should avoid drinking excessive coffee,” senior author Dr. Hiroyasu Iso, director of the Institute for Global Health Policy Research in Tokyo, told Medical News Today.

The study findings also showed that drinking 1 cup of coffee did not increase the risk for anyone across any blood pressure categories.

Just 1 cup of coffee can contain nearly 3 times the amount of caffeine as 1 cup of green tea, but the researchers did not detect issues with green tea regardless of the amount consumed.

The study authors believe this is due to the “mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of green tea,” which is the compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate, “the most abundant polyphenol in green tea.”

The authors noted that animal studies of green tea shows that epigallocatechin-3-gallate can positively affect oxidative stress, reduce inflammation, and improve lipid profiles.

“These beneficial effects of green tea catechins may partially explain why only coffee consumption was associated with an increased risk of mortality in people with severe hypertension despite both green tea and coffee containing caffeine,” the authors wrote.

“This study supports the implication that heavy coffee consumption can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality among people with severe hypertension, while green tea consumption does not increase the risk,” Dr. Jayne Morgan, a cardiologist and clinical director of the Covid Task Force at the Piedmont Healthcare Corporation in Atlanta, GA, told MNT.

Yelena Wheeler, RDN, a clinical dietitian with the Measurement Instrument Database for Social Sciences (MIDSS) in Los Angeles, CA, also spoke with MNT about the study findings:

“The study pointed out that ‘heavy’ coffee consumption was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality with people who were already suffering from severe hypertension. This seems somewhat of an obvious cause and effect; however, not finding any increased risk of CVD mortality amongst those in all categories who consumed green tea was an interesting twist.”

Wheeler added it would be interesting to see further research into the habits of people who consume coffee versus green tea, such as the types of jobs they hold or whether they practice mindfulness and meditation.

August 30, 2022

Drinking black tea daily may lower mortality risk

Loose dried black tea leaves out of a canister next to a metal tea strainer — Consuming black tea day-to-day could guide to a extended everyday living, in accordance to an analysis of tea-drinking patterns of nearly 50 percent a million persons from the U.K. Biobank. Lidia Puica/EyeEm/Getty Visuals

Apart from drinking water, tea is the most extensively eaten consume throughout the world.
Tea consists of caffeine, which can be destructive in large quantities, so people are recommended to limit their consumption of tea and other caffeine-made up of beverages, these kinds of as coffee.
Having said that, tea is also higher in anti-oxidants, linked with a minimized chance of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
A massive-scale research has uncovered that those people who consume two or extra cups of black tea every day have a decreased mortality threat, even when taken with milk or sugar.

According to the United Nations, tea is the world’s most consumed drink, just after water. Of the many varieties, black tea is most prevalent in the United Kingdom and the United States. Environmentally friendly tea, jasmine tea, and fruit and herbal teas are far more well-known in other nations around the world.

Both black and environmentally friendly teas come from the Camellia sinensis plant. The change amongst them is how they are processed right after picking. Both of those are picked, wilted, bruised, and rolled before drying. Black tea is then oxidized by exposing it to the air for some time.

Scientists have very long examined the well being rewards of distinctive teas. Some counsel that green tea has larger wellness gains, whilst others advocate the wellness-offering qualities of black tea. Both way, antioxidants appear to be to be essential.

Now, a future cohort research of tea-ingesting patterns in just about fifty percent a million individuals from the U.K. Biobank has supported the added benefits of black tea.

This new analyze has located that consuming two or far more cups of black tea daily, with or without milk, may reduce mortality from all main results in of dying by up to 12{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

The examine seems in the journal Annals of Inside Medication.

The study sample comprised 498,043 gentlemen and females ages 40 to 69. All contributors acquired actual physical examinations and furnished blood, urine, and saliva samples when they enrolled in the review from 2006 to 2010.

They then completed a baseline questionnaire about their tea ingesting routines. Contributors recorded how several cups of tea—on average—they drank each individual day and regardless of whether they drank their tea incredibly incredibly hot, scorching, or warm. They were then followed up for a median of 11.2 several years.

The researchers also recorded details on all participants’ food plan, lifestyle, overall health, ethnicity, and socioeconomic position. They altered mortality information to choose these elements into account.

Virtually 85{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of individuals claimed ingesting tea, with 89{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} ingesting black tea. Most of individuals who drank tea had amongst two and 5 cups for each day, with 19{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} consuming additional than 6 cups everyday.

Significant tea drinkers in the study were extra probable to be people who smoke, have poorer common wellbeing and eat far more pink and processed meat, which could boost mortality.

In the course of observe-up, 29,783 people died. Researchers observed that the chance of all-result in mortality decreased by about 12{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} as tea ingestion amplified to a few cups per working day.

People who drank a lot more than 3 cups of tea a working day did not have a decrease mortality danger than those people who drank in between one particular and three cups.

Including milk or sugar had minor effect on the observed added benefits of black tea. Likewise, the tea’s temperature was drunk and did not have an effect on mortality possibility.

“We observed the association irrespective of no matter whether folks took milk or sugar in their tea.”

– Dr. Maki Inoue-Choi, corresponding writer, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Nationwide Most cancers Institute.

Those people who drank far more than two cups of tea daily experienced a lower mortality risk from cardiovascular sickness, ischemic heart sickness, and stroke.

The scientists did not discover any affiliation among cancer and respiratory disease dying.

Tea is higher in polyphenols, which are anti-oxidants located in a lot of plant merchandise. Eco-friendly tea includes far more polyphenols than black tea.

Investigation indicates that a diet higher in polyphenols may well protect versus numerous health conditions, which includes significant blood stress, some cancers, cardiovascular disease, and variety 2 diabetic issues.

“Tea is extremely prosperous in bioactive compounds like polyphenols […] these have the opportunity to decrease oxidative worry […] that is the background system.”

– Dr. Inoue-Choi

Research has indicated that polyphenols in the diet plan have quite a few benefits, but abnormal quantities, these types of as may be found in supplements, could have adverse outcomes.

Black tea is made up of polyphenols known as theaflavins and thearubigins. Research have proven that theaflavins are highly effective anti-oxidants and could also have anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antimicrobial homes, aiding to regulate blood lipids.

Dr. Inoue-Choi stated that black tea, “even at increased concentrations of consumption, can be aspect of a nutritious diet.”

Even so, the latest review uncovered no even more wellness positive aspects soon after the 3rd day-to-day cuppa. And tea has caffeine, which can have adverse effects at large consumption ranges.

Little amounts of caffeine have been demonstrated to enhance cognitive function and alertness and assist with fat reduction. More substantial amounts—more than 400mg per day—can cause challenges, this kind of as jitters and shakes, disrupted sleep, heartburn, and even large blood stress in some people.

Nonetheless, on common, three cups of tea have about 180mg of caffeine, so it must not lead to problems for everyone who is not caffeine-delicate.

The researchers admit that some variables were being not managed for in their research, such as the power of the tea, steeping time, or serving size. They also simply cannot prove that black tea was accountable for minimized mortality.

Dr. Inoue-Choi stated: “This analyze confirmed an affiliation […] but our findings will need to be replicated in other experiments […] and prolonged to other assorted populations as well.”

Dr. Inoue-Choi pressured the most significant information from their examine:

“Higher tea ingestion was involved with reduce risk of mortality, particularly in those ingesting much more than 2 cups a day. Even so, our findings do not point out that people need to commence consuming tea or modify their tea consumption to search for health rewards.”

November 6, 2021

Is moderate drinking really linked to a longer life?

Glass of red wine recolored to look purple — Does moderate alcohol use reduce mortality risk? Rafa Elias/Getty Images

A new study contradicts previous findings that link moderate alcohol consumption to health benefits and a longer life.
The researchers found that those who abstain from alcohol may have a higher mortality rate because of risky behaviors in which they engaged earlier in life.
The study also shows that people who abstain from alcohol and who have no other risk factors, such as smoking or poor self-reported health, are not statistically more likely to die at an early age than those with low to moderate alcohol intake.

Some recent studies have linked moderate alcohol consumption to health benefits, such as lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Other studies tout potential health benefits of drinking wine and tequila.

However, results of a new study from the University of Greifswald in Germany contradict the idea of drinking alcohol to protect health.

Earlier studies have shown an increased mortality risk in people who abstain from alcohol, compared with individuals who consume low to moderate alcohol amounts. However, the authors of the recent study chalk this up to risky behaviors that people abstaining from alcohol engaged in earlier in their lives.

The study appears in the journal PLOS Medicine.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), in 2019, 85.6{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of individuals in the United States aged 18 years or older reported that they had consumed an alcoholic beverage at one time in their life.

The NIAAA also reports that 14.5 million people in the U.S. aged 12 years or older are living with alcohol use disorder (AUD). According to the NIAAA, AUD is “characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences.”

The NIAAA also notes that about 95,000 people in the U.S. die each year from alcohol-related causes. This makes alcohol the third largest preventable cause of death in the country.

Previous research suggests that people drinking alcohol in moderation live longer than those who do not consume it. Another, older study concludes that men who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have a higher life expectancy than individuals who drink alcohol occasionally or heavily.

Prof. Dr. Ulrich John and his team believe their research shows that the lower life expectancy for those who do not drink alcohol compared with those who do can be due to other high risk factors.

This contradicts the idea that consuming low to moderate amounts of alcohol confers health benefits.

“It is a problem […] that medical students and patients are given the advice that it might [improve] health if they drink low to moderate amounts of alcohol,” Dr. John told Medical News Today.

“For many years, epidemiological data seemed to reveal that low to moderate alcohol consumers live longer than alcohol abstainers. This was the scientific base for the attitude in medical care that alcohol consumption might support health, in particular cardiovascular health.”

“In the last few years, more and more shortcomings of the former research became known,” Dr. John continued. “So, we tried to prove what kind of subgroups are among the abstainers, subgroups perhaps with risk factors that might explain the seemingly higher likelihood to die early compared with low to moderate drinkers.”

During the study, Dr. John and his team examined data from a random sample of 4,028 German adults who had taken part in previous interviews. The original interviews included questions from a standardized AUD identification test and took place between 1996 and 1997. At the time, the participants were between the ages of 18 and 64 years.

The interview included questions about alcohol use over the 12 months preceding the interview, followed by questions regarding any risky behaviors the participants may have engaged in earlier in their lives, such as:

former dependence on alcohol or drugs
risky alcohol drinking
daily smoking

The participants also ranked their overall health using categories ranging from poor to excellent.

The researchers found that 447 (11.1{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) participants had not consumed any alcohol in the 12 months before the interviews in 1996–1997. Of those, 405 (90.6{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) used to drink alcohol, and 322 (72.04{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) had engaged in at least one of the listed risky behaviors.

Of the 322 with one or more risk factors, 114 (35.4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) had experienced AUD. Also, 161 (50{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) did not have alcohol-related risk, but they smoked daily.

Additionally, Dr. John and his team obtained data on whether the participants had died 20 years after the original interviews.

When examining the mortality rates of the study participants, the researchers observed that 119 (26.6{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) of the 447 people abstaining from alcohol had passed away 20 years after the initial interview. Also, 248 (11.26{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) of the 2,203 participants who drank low to moderate amounts of alcohol in the 12 months before the interview had also passed away by the 20-year mark.

However, the scientists found that both those who never drank alcohol and those who abstained in the 12 months prior to the study and had no previous risk factors did not have a higher rate of death than those who drank low to moderate amounts of alcohol.

The research team also observed a direct correlation between smoking tobacco and additional alcohol-related risk. They conclude that smoking may encourage alcohol use.

Dr. John and his team conclude that their results show that people abstaining from alcohol will not usually have a higher mortality risk than those who consume low to moderate amounts.

Any perceived increase in mortality risk is likely to be due to lifestyle factors preceding abstinence or because of smoking tobacco.

“Our findings add one piece to the growing evidence that low to moderate alcohol drinking should not be recommended for health reasons,” Dr. John said.

MNT also spoke with NIAAA Director Dr. George Koob about the research and what implications it may have on further recommendations concerning drinking alcohol for health benefits.

“There is no reason to recommend drinking alcohol for health benefits,” he said. “To minimize the risks of harm, we recommend that adults who choose to drink stay within the guidelines for moderate consumption in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend up to one drink per day for women or two for men.”

“Keep in mind there are still some health risks associated with drinking at moderate levels, including an increase in the risk of breast cancer beginning at one drink per day for women. Decisions about drinking alcohol should be made knowing the risks involved.”

– Dr. George Koob

Moreover, Dr. John told MNT that the research may shed light on how former alcohol use can still impact a person’s health, regardless of whether they abstain later in life:

“Our study is one of the very few that asked for details [about the] former life of the abstainers, details that may be known risk factors for early death. Our study is perhaps the only one so far that includes a standardized diagnosis of former alcohol or drug dependence, i.e., a severe health disorder that may explain short time to death.”

Dr. Koob agreed: “Yes, the findings support the fact that chronic excessive alcohol use can take a toll on the body. The good news is that an individual’s health and overall quality of life can be improved greatly with extended abstinence.”

What about the next steps for this research? “Research in the future should address the problem that low to moderate alcohol consumption may increase the likelihood of death,” Dr. John answered. “Even low amounts of alcohol might add to the likelihood of female breast cancer or hypertension, both very severe and prevalent health disorders in many general populations.”