coffee and blood pressure

September 10, 2026 | Read online

Does Your Body Really Get Used to Caffeine's Blood-Pressure Bump?

Half of coffee drinkers never build tolerance to caffeine's blood-pressure effect, and you can't feel which half you're in. Here's what's happening, and how it influences your health.

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Does Your Body Get Used to Caffeine's Blood-Pressure Bump?

Two days ago, we wrote about how coffee does not increase heart rate the way people think. In fact, in people who consistently drink coffee, it doesn’t appear to affect heart rate at all.

But one line, in particular, caught many of your attention: “When someone who rarely has caffeine drinks a cup, it does bump their blood pressure a little, but the body responds by slowing the heart rate to balance it out, so the pulse barely moves.”