Need a reason to enjoy a cup of tea? How about this... an ability to reduce blood pressure might just be one of many health benefits gained from drinking black tea according to a recent study.
The work finds that those who drank 3 cups of tea a day reduced their blood pressure by around 2-3 points. That might not sound a lot, but even small drops in blood pressure numbers can have a big impact on your levels and your chances of developing of heart disease.
Tea is a well-loved, full flavored drink enjoyed the world over, and is often the main source of flavonoid intake for most people, providing half of the daily total. You can drink it either hot or cold, and it is considered safe for just about everybody. And while green tea has gotten lots of accolades in terms of health, black tea also has some respectable health benefits. Still the effects of regular tea drinking on blood pressure remain a mystery.
So the team examined the effect of drinking tea on hypertension for just under 100 people who drank tea on a regular basis. The systolic (top number, when the heart pumps) blood pressure was 115-150 when the study started. Half the study subjects had three cups of tea a day for a six-month period, the other half consumed a placebo drink that tasted the same and did have caffeine. Both study groups were matched for sex, age and weight.
When the research ended, those who were drinking black tea saw an average 2-3 point reduction in the 24 hour average systolic (upper number) blood pressure level, with around 2 points in the diastolic (lower number, when the heart is resting) number.
The difference in the numbers seen in the research would result in a reduction of 10% in the occurrence of hypertension, a 7-10% reduction in risk of both heart disease and stroke. This is the first time a long term study on black tea has been found to bring down blood pressure in those with either normal or high normal readings.
Why? Researchers have a number of explanations.
Recent research has shown that black tea can boost the workings of endothelial cells that line the inside of blood vessels. Dysfunction in these cells is an early sign of changes in blood pressure. Other work has suggested that flavonoids in tea can increase the blood vessel's tone as well as help with reducing body weight and belly fat.
The health benefits of black tea are important to recognize, especially considering the high numbers of people suffering with hypertension the world over. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults has high blood pressure, though many may not know it because the condition has no outward symptoms and you can have it for years without seeing the damage being done to your heart, blood vessels, kidneys and other systems of the body.
This is why knowing your blood pressure numbers, even if you feel just fine, is so important. If your numbers are normal, you can work to keep them that way. If they aren't, you'll be able to start treatment that will help reduce blood pressure, thereby preventing more damage to your body.
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