Coffee & Blood Pressure Explained with Prof. Clare Collins (476)

Karl Kruszelnicki· Host0:00

I'm Dr. Carl, coming to you from the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first Australians and traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. [upbeat music] G'day, Shirtless Scientists, University of Sydney, married also to the University of Newcastle by my good colleague, Professor Claire Collins.

Clare Collins· Guest0:24

Good morning, Carl.

Karl Kruszelnicki· Host0:25

Now, I read your article here in The Conversation about coffee, and I agree with almost everything, and I could be wrong on the thing I disagree with. So let's dive in. Where should we start about coffee?

Clare Collins· Guest0:37

Well, Carl, I was asked to write this by The Conversation editor, who'd heard that coffee increases your blood pressure and was very worried, coming from Melbourne, that this might be bad news if she wasn't allowed to drink coffee anymore.

Karl Kruszelnicki· Host0:51

Because if you come from Melbourne, the euphemism, the claim, the cliche is that you have to wear black and drink coffee.

Clare Collins· Guest0:56

Yes, absolutely.

Karl Kruszelnicki· Host0:58

Got it.

Clare Collins· Guest0:58

So I dived into the science. So when you drink coffee, it does increase your blood pressure acutely. That means in the next 30 minutes to two hours.

Karl Kruszelnicki· Host1:09

Oh, it'll be a little spike.

Clare Collins· Guest1:10

Well, for some people it can be a big spike.

Karl Kruszelnicki· Host1:13

Oh, really?

Clare Collins· Guest1:14

So the re- Yeah. So the research study said it could be anywhere between, like, 3 to 10 or 15 milligrams of mercury. For some people, that can be a massive, big spike.

Karl Kruszelnicki· Host1:24

I'll just explain blood pressure. So assume that you've got a continuous high-speed pump, then