Influence of different doses of coffee on post-exercise blood pressure response

The reduction in blood pressure after the physical exercise practice is called postexercise hypotension (PEH). Previous studies have demonstrated that the ingestion of caffeine at levels corresponding to three doses of coffee eliminates this phenomenon. Thus, we evaluated the influence of different doses of coffee in the PEH in twelve hypertensives, who performed four experimental sessions of aerobic exercise on a cycle ergometer (lasting 40 minutes, with intensity between 60% and 80% of maximum heart rate), followed by the ingestion of one (CAF-1), two (CAF-2), or three (CAF-3) doses of caffeinated coffee, or three doses of decaffeinated coffee (DESC). The blood pressure was measured at rest and at 10-minute intervals during 120 minutes of recovery post exercise. DESC resulted in systolic PEH at all moments of measurement, with averages of -4.1 +/- 1.2 mmHg and -1.8 +/- 1.3 mmHg on the 1st and 2nd hours post exercise, respectively. In CAF-1, both systolic hypotensive and hypertensive responses to the exercise were identified, with averages of -1.2 +/- 1.7 and 0.5 +/- 0.4 mmHg after one and two hours of recovery. Conversely, hypertensive systolic response occurred in all measurements compared rest blood pressure. The 1st and 2nd hours post exercise was 4.5 +/- 1.1 and 6.5+1.1 mmHg in CAF-2 and 5.1+0.9 and 6.5+1.0 mmHg to CAF-3. Diastolic PEH was not found in any of the experimental sessions. Therefore, the ingestion of two and three doses of caffeinated coffee completely blunts the PEH, while one dose results in partial elimination of the PEH.