If your doctor suggested you cut down on your favorite morning brew because of your high blood pressure, we understand your problem. Coffee is the first point of call for most people in the morning, and quitting this life-long routine is tricky.
A switch to decaf coffee can offer similar benefits to regular coffee without the blood-pressure-raising caffeine.
High-quality decaf coffee tastes just as good as regular coffee and they’re much better for those of you with high blood pressure.
In this article, we explore why decaf coffee is the best option for high blood pressure and how to select the perfect blends for your taste.
Why Choose Decaf Coffee: Health Benefits
You can expect a snide scoff from coffee snobs when you choose decaf coffee, no matter the reason. They may ask, “Why drink coffee if you’re not getting the caffeine?” or “Doesn’t it taste weird?”
Despite what these coffee purists think, modern decaf is almost indistinguishable from regular coffee, so why not give it a go? Besides, decaf is better than no coffee if you have high blood pressure.
Here’s why you may want to choose decaf coffee over regular coffee:
1. Lower Caffeine Content — Fewer Side Effects
The primary benefit of drinking decaf coffee is the lack of caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant and it affects your system in various ways.
For healthy individuals, the effects of caffeine can be beneficial, such as increasing metabolism, which may aid weight loss efforts [1]. However, for people with high blood pressure, the stimulant isn’t as useful — it can increase your heart rate and blood pressure, which could strain your heart.
Decaf coffee gives you all the delicious flavors of coffee without the negative (or positive) effects of caffeine. While we've touched on the impact on the heart, it's also worth considering the impact on mental health conditions.
People with anxiety, for instance, may find that the stimulant nature of caffeine makes their symptoms worse, leading to tremors or unnecessary worrying. Decaf can provide people with anxiety a coffee fix without the negative impact of caffeine.
2. Better for Heart Health
Heart health is one of the most important health issues we are concerned about. We’re often told to eat less fat and more vegetables to put our hearts under less strain, and rightly so.
Doctors also suggest avoiding too much caffeine, as it can raise blood pressure and may put a strain on the heart. However, a study was released in 2023 that called this into question. Across just over 1500 participants, regularly drinking more than two cups of coffee was associated with lower blood pressure [4].
The exact reasons for this are unclear, but coffee is a chemically complex substance. Researchers behind the study believe the primary compound lowering blood pressure is chlorogenic acid. However, most medical professionals agree that people with heart conditions and high blood pressure should avoid excessive caffeine consumption.
3. Potential Cancer Prevention Effects
While there’s no outright way of preventing cancer 100% of the time, one particular study has shown that regular coffee drinkers may experience a lower risk of certain types of cancer [5].
The study suggests that coffee drinkers have a decreased risk of colon cancer, whether they regularly drink caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.
Does Decaffeinated Coffee Raise Blood Pressure?
If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may suggest limiting your caffeine intake. In patients with hypertension, finding these small ways to reduce your blood pressure can be very helpful. However, if regular coffee can raise blood pressure, does decaf do the same?
Throughout a 12-week trial, participants of one study saw a “real but small fall in blood pressure” when drinking decaffeinated coffee [6].
Researchers have confirmed these findings in several studies since, so it’s reasonable to assume decaf coffee is unlikely to raise blood pressure for most people. It could be a safer alternative to regular coffee for people with high blood pressure.
How to Choose a High-Quality Decaf Coffee for High Blood Pressure
If you don’t know what to look for when searching for high-quality coffee, here are some factors you should consider:
1. Organic Growing Practices
Organic farming techniques are becoming more popular thanks to their improved environmental impact compared to traditional farming methods. They’re also popular because they greatly reduce the risk of chemicals in your coffee.
2. Certified Mold-Free
In some situations, mold can grow on coffee beans as they’re shipped and stored. Mycotoxins from moldy coffee can be harmful to human health. To avoid consuming mycotoxins, it’s wise to opt for a seller that regularly carries out mold testing and sells certified mold-free coffee.
3. Strong Flavor & Caffeine Content
When people describe a coffee as “strong,” they can mean it has a strong flavor or a high caffeine content. In the case of decaf coffee for high blood pressure, we can only mean one of those things. To get a potent flavor, look for a decaf dark roast coffee, as these have a bold, dark, strong flavor that can act as a placebo effect — making your body believe it's ingesting caffeine.
4. Freshly Roasted
Freshly roasted coffee always has the best flavor. After a 24-hour resting period, all coffee will slowly lose flavor until it becomes stale, which takes around two weeks. By ensuring you get freshly roasted coffee, you can be certain that you get the most flavor possible.
5. Freshly Ground
Grinding coffee exposes the inside of the bean to air, which speeds up the rate the beans go stale. To prevent your coffee from going stale, you should buy coffee beans, store them in an airtight, opaque container, and then grind immediately before use.
Choosing the Best Decaf Beans for Your Taste
Not all decaf coffee tastes good. A bean, blend, and roast that tastes good to one person may not taste good to you.
You should consider the grind size, roast level, and bean type when purchasing a decaf coffee for high blood pressure.
Here’s how to select the right coffee for your taste:
1. Select the Grind Size
When brewing coffee, you use hot water to extract the flavors that are within the coffee grounds. When you decrease the grind size of coffee, you’ll extract more compounds — caffeine included.
Although decaf coffee contains significantly less caffeine than regular coffee, it does contain some. To make a brew that’s a little more gentle on your blood pressure, it may be wise to choose a coarse grind.
Using a coarse grind may limit the amount of caffeine that’s extracted during brewing. Choose a coarse-ground decaf coffee to produce a brew with miniscule caffeine levels.
2. Select the Roast Level
The roasting process has a huge impact on the bean flavor and chemical composition.
Coffee beans mostly lose chlorogenic acids during roasting. There’s a common myth that coffee loses some caffeine content as it is roasted more intensely. However, this isn’t true — there’s little to no difference in caffeine content between different coffee roasts [3].
Roasting does affect flavor. If you prefer a floral, fruity, acidic brew opt for a lighter roast. If you enjoy dark, sweet, caramel-like flavors opt for a darker roast.
3. Select the Bean Type
There are more than 120 different types of coffee beans. However, many of these species are not cultivated commercially to make coffee. The most common coffee species are arabica and robusta.
Arabica beans are the most popular. They have a fat and sugar content than robusta beans and thus have a slightly more complex flavor. Strong robusta beans produce a darker, bolder, more bitter cup of coffee and have a very high caffeine content (around twice that of arabica).
Since caffeine and blood pressure are the two main things we’re considering here, opting for 100% arabica coffee is a wise choice if you want to reduce — but not eliminate — your caffeine intake. These beans contain half as much caffeine content as robusta.
The flavors of robusta beans are sought after, and there’s every chance that you enjoy those beans specifically. If you enjoy robusta, decaffeinated options are available.
A blend of arabica and robusta provides the characteristics of both beans — arabica’s sweet, smooth, creamy notes and robusta’s strong, bold, bitter notes.
Brewing the Perfect Decaf Cup of Coffee
Decaf coffee tastes almost identical to regular coffee and is available in pre-ground and instant varieties. Your preferred brewing method will work the same for pre-ground decaf coffee as it does for regular caffeinated coffee.
Here are some brewing options you can use to make a perfect cup of decaf coffee:
1. Pour-Over
This brewing process takes a little longer than other methods, meaning that the flavors within the grounds can truly develop and dissolve into your cup.
2. French Press
French Press brewing is an immersion method, meaning that the coffee sits in the water for a while before the grounds are separated for drinking. Often, this immersion time is up to five minutes, meaning that there’s plenty of time for complex flavors to develop. Consider using a slightly coarser grind and slightly cooler water to avoid over-extraction in a French Press.
3. Espresso
Brewing coffee with an espresso machine is a great way to pack flavor into your brew. Despite the short contact time between water and coffee, the fine grind and high pressure lead to a powerful extraction. The final cup of instant espresso is packed with flavor. However, even decaf blends can produce a cup with some caffeine using this brewing method.
4. Aeropress
Aeropress brewing is a beautiful fusion of pressure-based extraction and immersion-based brewing. Together, these two methods combine to draw a lot of flavor from coffee in a relatively short time. Plus, they have the benefit of being almost indestructible, making them a favorite among coffee-loving campers.
FAQs: Best Decaf Coffee for High Blood Pressure
Now that we’ve talked about decaf coffee and how it can be ideal for many people, let’s run through the answers to some FAQs.
1. Is Decaf Coffee Completely Caffeine Free?
No, decaf coffee is not completely free from caffeine. However, it does have significantly less caffeine than regular coffee, so most people tend not to feel the effects of the caffeine after drinking a cup.
2. Can Decaf Coffee Still Cause Heartburn?
Yes, decaf coffee can still cause heartburn because the beverage is acidic. To reduce acidity, consider cold-brewing your coffee.
3. How Often Can I Drink Decaf Coffee if I Have High Blood Pressure?
Generally, it’s safe to enjoy decaf coffee fairly regularly. However, if you have any concerns or if you notice decaf coffee makes you feel unwell, stop drinking it and consult with a medical professional.
4. Does The Flavor of Decaf Coffee Differ Much from Regular Coffee?
The flavor can be slightly different because caffeine itself has a slightly bitter taste. Therefore, removing it can make the coffee taste a bit less bitter. The processing required to remove the caffeine from coffee can also remove some of the oils that hold some of the delicate flavor notes of coffee.
5. Are There any Specific Brands of Decaf Coffee Recommended for People with High Blood Pressure?
There are typically no recommendations specifically for those suffering from high blood pressure. However, there are different methods of decaffeination, and the two most popular methods are the Swiss Water Process, and the CO2 Process. Brands that use those processes do not use chemicals not already found within the coffee, so their decaf is considered to be "cleaner."
6. How Long Does Decaf Coffee Stay Fresh?
Decaf coffee and regular coffee go stale at roughly the same rate. To ensure the most flavor possible, they should both be consumed within a few weeks of opening.
7. Can I Make Espresso with Decaf Coffee?
Yes, you can. Decaf coffee is available in ground form, so it can be used to make any specialty coffee that you might want.
8. Is Decaf Coffee More Expensive than Regular Coffee?
Decaf can be slightly more expensive because the process of decaffeination takes time and specialist equipment. However, when done in large batches, companies can often benefit from the economy of scale, meaning individual bags aren’t much more expensive.
9. What Is the Best Way to Store Decaf Coffee?
As with regular coffee, it’s wise to store decaf coffee in such a way that the volatile flavor and aroma compounds are preserved. To do this, keep the coffee in a cool, dry place, in an airtight and opaque container.
10. Can Decaf Coffee Help Reduce Anxiety Compared to Regular Coffee?
While decaf coffee won’t have the same impact as medication, the lower caffeine content compared to regular coffee is less likely to contribute to feelings of anxiety.
References:
- Dulloo, A. G., Geissler, C. A., Horton, T., Collins, A., & Miller, D. S. (1989). Normal caffeine consumption: influence on thermogenesis and daily energy expenditure in lean and postobese human volunteers. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 49(1), 44–50.
- Acquaviva, F., DeFrancesco, A., Andriulli, A., Piantino, P., Arrigoni, A., Massarenti, P., & Balzola, F. (1986). Effect of regular and decaffeinated coffee on serum gastrin levels. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 8(2), 150–153.
- Awwad, S., Issa, R., Alnsour, L., & Albals, D. (2021). Quantification of Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acid in Green and Roasted Coffee Samples Using HPLC-DAD and Evaluation of the Effect of Degree of Roasting on Their Levels. Molecules, 26(24), 7502.
- Cicero, A. F. G., Fogacci, F., D’Addato, S., Grandi, E., Rizzoli, E., Borghi, C., & on behalf of the Brisighella Heart Study. (2023). Self-Reported Coffee Consumption and Central and Peripheral Blood Pressure in the Cohort of the Brisighella Heart Study. Nutrients, 15(2), 312.
- Sinha, R., Cross, A. J., Daniel, C. R., Graubard, B. I., Wu, J. W., Hollenbeck, A. R., Gunter, M. J., Park, Y., & Freedman, N. D. (2012). Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and tea intakes and risk of colorectal cancer in a large prospective study1. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 96(2), 374.
- Van Dusseldorp, M., Smits, P., Thien, T., & Katan, M. B. (1989). Effect of decaffeinated versus regular coffee on blood pressure. A 12-week, double-blind trial. Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979), 14(5), 563–569.
