Sometimes after a cup of coffee, there are unpleasant sensations in the heart. Something tingles, burns, pulls, maybe heart palpitations. With most heart problems, doctors are usually forbidden to drink coffee first, but giving up a favorite drink is not always possible. Moreover, all over the world gradually refuse the idea that coffee harms the heart. How to be, whether it is possible to drink, to whom, what, – we understand all the details of this difficult topic.
Can the heart ache with coffee?
The answer to this question is very ambiguous. On the one hand, coffee does not cause heart disease. In reasonable quantities for most people, the drink is not only not harmful, but also useful, since it trains the cardiovascular system, contains magnesium and potassium. On the other hand, by stimulating the nervous system, caffeine can cause overexcitation, increase blood pressure, and if there are problems, they manifest. That is, coffee is not the root cause, but the catalyst.
However, if you drink more than 5-6 cups of strong coffee a day, constant overexcitation can lead to the appearance of diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
That is, you need to monitor your health and take into account existing diseases. Modern scientists believe that a cup of coffee in the morning does not harm anyone, if there is no heart disease.
Coffee and heart disease
With rapid heartbeat and arrhythmia, it is advisable to refuse coffee, or to drink lightly. But if the arrhythmia is accompanied by a slow heart rate, a cup of coffee will help to save and greatly improve your health.
Hypertension is not recommended to drink strong coffee, because the pressure they have and so increased.
With ischemic heart disease, if the pressure is already lowered, you must drink coffee. As soon as you feel nausea, weakness, trembling in your hands or cold sweat, then the blood flow is weakened, and you need to cheer up a cup of coffee or take caffeine in tablets.
Is it precisely the heart that hurts?
Caffeine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which causes an increase in pressure and secretion of the hormone adrenaline, and it already makes the heart beat faster. But there is an effect on other organs, and pain can be given to the heart region.
This can manifest neuralgia, gastritis, stomach ulcer, and pancreas problems. And in all cases can tingle, burn in the chest. If cardiac drugs do not help to relieve symptoms, and in general, your heart is healthy, you should check for the presence of digestive and gastrointestinal disorders and the nervous system.
How to determine your sensitivity to caffeine?
In most healthy people, the pressure rises slightly, they only feel a surge of vivacity. But there are those on whom caffeine acts for a long time, the heart is working on wear and tear. If you sometimes notice chest pain, perform a simple check, it takes no more than half an hour.
To test your sensitivity, sit quietly and measure the pressure.
Drink a cup of strong natural coffee.
Measure the pressure again: if the systolic increases by 5 mm or more (this is the first digit on the tonometer), you are quite sensitive to caffeine.
Spend a few more measurements, after 10, 15, 20 minutes, to see how long the effect lasts.
If it’s been 20 minutes already, and the pressure rises, then your heart reacts badly to coffee, and it is advisable to drink less strong or to completely abandon it.
Why sometimes the heart can hurt from coffee?
Even a healthy person can feel a sudden tachycardia, feel tingling if he receives a large dose of caffeine. This happens for various reasons:
- You have not drunk coffee for a long time, or drank soluble, and then drank natural, or suddenly drank too strong;
- The body is weakened by stress, lack of sleep, travel, and perceives your usual dose as excessive;
- Coffee in combination with nicotine, especially on an empty stomach, sharply narrows the blood vessels, and it is more difficult for the heart to pump blood on them, it is necessary to fight harder, which can cause tingling and pressing sensations.
What to do and how to help yourself?
Be sure to sit or accept a half-reclining position. Ensure an influx of fresh air, try to breathe deeply and measuredly. In small sips, drink half a liter of pure still water to reduce the concentration of caffeine in the blood. Usually, such seizures last 5-10 minutes, and then you will feel better. If possible, take a nap for 20 minutes. When you wake up, you will feel good.
Conclusion
Reasonable use (2-3 cups a day) does not cause heart disease.
With ischemic disease or delayed arrhythmia, drinking coffee is even beneficial.
Caffeine in large doses can cause tachycardia and tingling in the chest.
Sometimes pain in the heart is given to other diseases, for example, neuralgia, ulcer and gastritis.
In case of an overdose of caffeine and tachycardia, drink water and take a deep breath, it’s fearless and will pass.
Image credit: Mike Kenneally