A single cup of espresso is bad for heart

Here’s bad news for those who can’t get out of bed without sipping a hot espresso — a single cup of the caffeinated drink is enough to damage your heart.

Here’s bad news for those who can’t get out of bed without sipping a hot espresso — a single cup of the caffeinated drink is enough to damage your heart.

HT Image

Italian researchers have carried out the study and found that the high amount of caffeine in a single espresso can have “unfavourable cardiovascular effects” — it cuts blood flow to the heart by more than a fifth.

Decaffeinated coffee, in contrast, boosts blood flow, the study has found.

For their study, the researchers from the University of Palermo recruited 20 volunteers. They examined the blood flow of the subjects who drank a single espresso and compared it to a decaffeinated alternative. The caffeinated variety narrowed blood vessels, cutting blood flow to the heart by an average of 22 per cent within an hour.

This is because caffeine acts to block a chemical which keeps blood vessels expanded. But when the volunteers drank a decaf espresso, the flow improved slightly. The blood pressure also rose after a normal espresso.