Caffeine and the Heart: A Heart-to-Heart With My Cardiologist

If you ask anyone who knows me if I like coffee, they will likely cackle and say, "Have you met the guy?" It's true, coffee is one of my favorite things in the world. When I wake up in the morning, I look forward to having that first sip. In the afternoon, when I'm feeling a bit sluggish, I look forward to the caffeine helping me power through a slog of work.

Unfortunately, and especially as a graduate student, excessive caffeine consumption can have negative effects on the heart. I learned this quite quickly after talking with my cardiologist, who told me the worst news I could think of: to cut back on caffeine.

How much caffeine is safe for the heart?

There are lots of studies that discuss the impacts of caffeine on the heart. Despite the news we hear elaborating on how coffee is beneficial for the heart, the American Heart Association (AHA) seems to stress that only moderate caffeine consumption appears to be safe. The AHA also notes that a "healthy adult" can consume 4 to 5 cups of coffee without too many side effects.

Emphasis on the "healthy" there, because those of us with CVD or cardio-related problems likely are the exception to this amount of coffee drinking, so I didn't want to consider myself in this category.

My cardiologist was shocked

Apparently, I had not been drinking in moderation. Compounding this is that I like cold brew, which has nearly twice the amount of caffeine as a regular cup of coffee, and when you drink 2 cold brews a day, that can mean 4 to 5 cups of coffee or more per day.

Well, after telling my cardiologist this, he was quite shocked and immediately told me that that was too much — and that I had to cut back. He also indicated (please note this was before I had my EKG and stress test done) that the caffeine could be the cause of the recent increase in resting heart rate that I had been experiencing.

Keeping an eye on my coffee consumption

This might sound rather dramatic, but I was really crushed to hear that I needed to calm down on the coffee. As I mentioned above, coffee is one of my rituals and something that I purposefully allocate money and time for. While I did not give it up completely, unfortunately, I have cut down on the caffeine.

In my situation, going to 1 coffee a day was important for managing my heart conditions. I have a right bundle branch block (RBBB), which is an electrical problem, along with high cholesterol and some other random problems. My cardiologist seems to indicate that caffeine could exacerbate that electrical problem. That is an evolving conversation, and something I have to keep an eye on.

Have you had to cut back on caffeine?

It's been hard to give up something that I love (I realize this sounds dramatic!), but I recognize that there is a bigger goal here in being healthier and happier. If giving up 1 cold brew will help my heart, I'm willing to do that.

So, I'm curious. Have you had to cut back on caffeine? Has your cardiologist talked to you about coffee or caffeine consumption? I'm hoping I'm not the only one!