Caffeine - To Be Avoided In Heart Disease

Author: Marko Balašević Time for reading: ~2 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

Caffeine - To Be Avoided In Heart Disease

Hypertensives and patients with arrhythmia should follow food and beverage labels.

For most of us, morning coffee brings a pleasant feeling of vivacity and sharpness of mind. For some, however, just one cup is enough to cause a dangerous heartbeat . These people are so sensitive to caffeine that even "decaffeinated" coffee causes a strong reaction in them.

Many people think that decaffeinated coffee does not contain any caffeine, but they are mistaken. The truth is that decaffeinated coffee contains 1-2% of the caffeine in regular coffee. For people with hypersensitivity to caffeine, chocolate and cocoa are also not trivial foods. In them, caffeine not only causes excitement and tension, but also triggers atrial fibrillation - a medical condition characterized by a violation of heart rhythm. Atrial fibrillation is not a trivial disorder - it disrupts the electrical activity of the heart, which increases the risk of heart attack five times, and the risk of heart disease - three times.

Cardiologists and GPs point out that timely diagnosis and treatment are essential to prevent complications. However, practice shows that 2-3 years pass between the appearance of the first symptoms of atrial fibrillation and the diagnosis. During this time, most doctors attribute the complaints - intermittent palpitations and nausea, stress and fatigue. Many patients notice that the complaints appear with the intake of certain drinks and foods - coffee, black or green tea, cocoa, chocolate and others. Thus, they inadvertently expose themselves to the risk of heart attack. It is estimated that half of patients with atrial fibrillation receive one or another complaint after caffeine intake.

Surprisingly, not enough clinical data are available to support a link between caffeine and complaints of atrial fibrillation. Although there are a huge number of anecdotal reports, well-controlled clinical trials in this area have hardly been done. It turns out that although caffeine is the most widely used psychostimulant in the world, with an annual consumption of hundreds of tons, its effects against the background of one of the most common heart diseases are almost completely unexplored.

Due to the fact that it excites the central nervous system and strengthens the heart, as well as the fact that it shortens the coronary arteries, doctors recommend avoiding it in patients with cardiovascular disease, especially those with hypertension and / or arrhythmia. Caffeine is also contraindicated in migraine, as its vasoactive effects can exacerbate its course.

Concerns about caffeine in energy and soft drinks have also increased in recent months .

Caffeine - To Be Avoided In Heart Disease

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