Does tea offset the effects of caffeine on blood pressure?
Researchers testing the theory that the flavonoid components of tea would counter the effects of caffeine found it to be untrue. They studied the effects of drinking green tea or black tea on blood pressure vs drinking water with an equivalent amount of caffeine. They found that tea ingestion caused larger acute increases in blood pressure than caffeine alone. However, by 60 minutes this additive effect of tea on blood pressure had disappeared. Furthermore, regular tea ingestion up to five times per day for seven days in patients with moderate hypertension had no additional effect on blood pressure. The authors of this study concluded that the acute effects of black and green tea ingestion on blood pressure do not translate into significant alterations in ambulatory blood pressure during regular tea consumption. Source: Hodgson JM, Puddey IB, Burke V, Beilin LJ, Jordan N. Effects on blood pressure of drinking green and black tea. J Hypertens 1999 Apr;17(4):457-63. Abs.
