Both alcohol and caffeine appear to have complex relationships with HRV.
“Caffeine is a little harder to decipher,” says Benditt. “Basic pharmacology suggests that caffeine would reduce heart rate variability.”
Research returns mixed results, though. Caffeine acutely increases the action of the sympathetic nervous system, but it can also elevate activity of the parasympathetic nervous system. And following exercise, some studies suggest caffeine may delay HRV recovery, while others find it doesn’t have a significant impact.
“Habitual caffeine intake doesn’t worsen HRV per se, although very high caffeine intake has been shown to worsen HRV in some studies,” says Angadi.
Trivedi suggests not overdoing it with caffeine may be the key, but more research is needed.
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