Green Tea Treatment for High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a serious illness that often shows no symptoms until it is in an advanced state. As blood pressure increases, the walls of the blood vessels constrict, which can cause blood clots, strokes and heart attacks. The catechins in green tea offer an effective way to lower moderate high blood pressure.

Function

• Catechins are a compound in green tea that inhibits the enzymes that control blood vessel constriction to keep the vessels from narrowing.

Prevention/Solution

• One cup of green tea daily can prevent the development of hypertension in someone who has borderline blood pressure levels.

Potential

• Green tea has the potential to prevent the development of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arterial walls).

Expert Insight

• An eight-year study by Chinese researchers published in 2005 in the "Archives of Internal Medicine," found that of 1,500 healthy adults participants, those who drank at least four ounces of tea a day were 46 percent less likely to develop hypertension than non-tea drinkers. Those who drank 20 ounces of tea each day were 65 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure.

Time Frame

• In the study mentioned above, it took an average of one year for hypertension to lower to a normal range. Continuing to drink green tea maintained healthy levels of blood pressure.

Benefits

• In addition to lowering high blood pressure, green tea is beneficial for high cholesterol and blood clots. Green tea is also good to fight free radicals that cause cell damage because it contains polyphenols, which are antioxidants.