Caffeine Research Paper

Words: 1007
Pages: 5

Caffeine and the Heart coffee
Like old folklore, outdated medical science often lingers in our minds long after it has been trumped by newer, more accurate research. Consider the commonly held notion that caffeine is bad for your heart. Many people — including some physicians — believe that caffeine raises blood pressure, skews the heart's normal rhythm, or helps cause heart disease. Caffeine may negatively affect the heart in people who overcaffeinate themselves, those who are extrasensitive to it, or those who don't regularly consume it. But for most of us, moderate amounts of caffeine (the amount you get from drinking three typical cups of coffee or four Cokes a day) seem to have little impact on the heart.

CAFFEINE CONTENT

Brewed coffee,
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However, caffeine isn't innocuous. It's clearly an addictive, mood-altering compound that may contribute to osteoporosis and other health problems. But moderate caffeine use is low on the totem pole of heart risks.

CAFFEINE'S EFFECTS

Sip coffee or soda and the caffeine it delivers gets into your bloodstream within 30 minutes and stays there for several hours. Inside your brain, caffeine stimulates or mimics the activity of key chemical messengers, which may explain why caffeine improves mood and energy levels, or, as some studies suggest, helps people concentrate better.
Although you may feel that a dose of caffeine gives your heart a gentle jolt, it actually slows the heart rate a bit. It also constricts peripheral arteries, one reason some headache and migraine preparations contain caffeine and why a cup of coffee may quell headaches caused by swollen blood vessels in the brain. Here's a look at how caffeine affects risk factors for heart disease or the heart itself.

Blood pressure:
If caffeine is rarely, or never, part of your daily diet, then drinking a caffeinated beverage will temporarily boost your blood pressure a few points. But if you have caffeine every day, your body quickly adjusts to the effects and blood pressure remains