Routine coffee drinking may have BP-lowering effect

Regular coffee consumption appears to be associated with decreases in blood pressure (BP) levels, as according to a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.

Researchers explored the potential causal link between BP and coffee consumption. They identified genetic variants associated with coffee consumption through a meta-analysis of data from genome-wide association studies involving 428,860 participants in the UK Biobank. Blood pressure data were obtained from the International Consortium for Blood Pressure Research (ICBP) and the United Kingdom Blood Pressure Study.

An inverse variance weighted approach with random effects was applied as the primary analytical method, which was supplemented by sensitivity analyses using MR-PRESSO, weighted median, and MR-Egger methods.

Results showed that coffee consumption was associated with a significant reduction in systolic BP (β, −1.92, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], −3.64 to −0.20; p=0.028) and diastolic BP (β, −1.34, 95 percent CI, −2.26 to −0.42; p=0.004). Sensitivity analyses using the MR-PRESSO outlier test and the weighted median approach yielded similar results.

The multivariable MR analysis showed similar causal effects of coffee consumption on both systolic and diastolic BP.

These findings indicate that coffee intake may serve as a beneficial lifestyle choice, with habitual coffee drinkers benefitting from a BP-lowering effect, according to the researchers.