No evidence that coffee ups risk of high blood pressure

GO AHEAD. Have that second cup of coffee - or maybe even a third.

Despite previous concerns, downing lots of coffee doesn't seem to increase the risk of high blood pressure, says a US study.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, has been linked to heart disease, stroke and a shorter life expectancy, and some scientists have suggested that coffee might fuel the problem.

But according to a report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that pooled data from six previous studies, covering 170,000 people, this did not appear to be the case.

'The results suggest that habitual coffee consumption of more than 3 cups per day was not associated with an increased risk of hypertension compared with less than one cup per day,' wrote Liwei Chen, from the Louisiana State University School of Public Health in New Orleans, who worked on the study.

But Mr Chen added that more data would be needed in order to draw a firm conclusion, noting that the report 'is not saying there's no risk' to drinking lots of java.