Nutritional neuroscience
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Nutritional neuroscience · May 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialShort-term effects of espresso coffee on heart rate variability and blood pressure in habitual and non-habitual coffee consumers - A randomized crossover study.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide. Aim of this study was to investigate short-term effects of espresso coffee on heart rate variability (HRV), a marker of vagal activity, in healthy habitual and non-habitual coffee consumers. ⋯ We found no evidence for specific short-term effects of caffeinated espresso on vagal activity in healthy subjects. Instead, consumption of decaffeinated espresso inhibited vagal activity in habitual consumers. This may be explained by an attempt of the organism to establish a sympathovagal equilibrium comparable to that after caffeine consumption. In the absence of caffeine-induced sympathetic activation, this may have been achieved by relative vagal withdrawal.