Possible Effects Of Herbal Tea On People Suffering From Hypertension

Possible Effects Of Herbal Tea On People Suffering From Hypertension: Researchers examined the impact of tea intake over time on the risk of having high blood pressure in 1,507 Chinese men and women living in Taiwan who had no prior history of the condition for the study, which was published in the July 26 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine.

The type of tea (green, black, or oolong) that the subjects drank as well as their background as tea drinkers were also recorded by the researchers. The identical shrub yields green, oolong, and black teas. The type of tea and flavonoid content is determined by how the Camellia sinensis leaves are processed.

40% of the participants, according to the research, had been drinking tea consistently for one or more years and had been doing so for at least a half-cup each day. More than 96% of tea consumers said they preferred green or oolong tea.

Tea drinkers were more likely to be younger men with higher levels of education and socioeconomic standing than non-tea drinkers. But they were also more obese, smoked more, drank more alcohol, ate fewer vegetables, and consumed more sodium than those who didn’t drink tea regularly.

After controlling for these and other factors associated with heart disease and high blood pressure risk, researchers found that tea drinkers were considerably less likely to develop high blood pressure than non-tea drinkers.

Those who consumed at least a half-cup of moderately strong green or oolong tea every day for a year had a 46% reduced risk of developing hypertension than people who didn’t drink tea. More than two and a half cups of tea per day reduced the chance of high blood pressure by 65%.

Researchers report that “The risk of hypertension decreased over time as daily tea consumption rose, with non-habitual tea consumers having a higher risk than habitual tea drinkers. The prevalence of hypertension did not further decline with continued tea consumption after a year, though.”

The study’s results suggest that a half-cup of green or oolong tea per day for at least a year is the lowest quantity of tea needed to have blood pressure-lowering effects.

More thorough long-term studies are needed to confirm these results and understand the mechanisms underlying tea’s blood pressure-lowering effects.