For most of us, coffee is part of our morning ritual. We embrace it, we love it and we truly enjoy it as part of waking up and even drink it throughout the day. We've seen many studies look at the health benefits of coffee but now a new study analyzed the link between coffee intake, high blood pressure and prediabetes and found that patients with mild high blood pressure along with a heavy consumption of coffee had an increased risk of severe high blood pressure and prediabetes. 

here has long been a controversy between long-term cardiovascular and metabolic effects of coffee consumption in patients with hypertension. This particular study was designed to assess how coffee drinking effects the risk of cardiovascular disease and if an existing association was mediated by effects on blood pressure and glucose metabolism. 

They evaluated 1,201 patients between 18 and 45 for about 12 years. Each patient had been diagnosed with stage 1 hypertension (a.k.a. high blood pressure) but none had been diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes. 

This type of hypertension is a blood pressure that which falls between 140/90 and 159/99. Prediabetes is a metabolic condition that precedes type 2 diabetes in which the body becomes resistant to insulin or the hormone that allows the body to use sugar for energy.

Participants were divided into three groups:

1. Nondrinkers of coffee

2. Moderate drinkers (1-3 cups per day)

3. Heavy drinkers (4 or more cups per day)

Interestingly enough, patients considered heavy drinkers tended to be older and weigh more than abstainers. The more coffee consumed, the higher the risk of developing severe hypertension and heart problems along with an increased risk of developing prediabetes. 

Study authors did note that these findings may not apply to patients without hypertension.