Fact Check: No proof that drinking tea can increase BP

A video of an AI bot claiming tea can raise Blood Pressure has gone viral on social media.

Usually, a normal blood pressure level is less than 120/80 mmHg. High blood pressure or hypertension is blood pressure that is higher than normal. Your blood pressure might change throughout the day due to the various activities you perform. But, having high blood pressure above the normal is a diagnosis of having high blood pressure or hypertension.

Having high blood pressure might put you under a lot of other health risks like heart disease, Heart attack, and stroke. The good news is, that you can always manage or control your blood pressure by taking steps each day to keep it in a healthy range.

It should be noted that there are usually no warning signs or symptoms that help you figure out if you have high blood pressure.

High blood pressure usually develops over time due to unhealthy lifestyle choices and habits. Certain health conditions also intervene such as diabetics and obesity. Pregnant women might also develop high blood pressure or hypertension.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be false.

A study confirms that human interventions and animal studies found that both tea and tea metabolites have anti-hypertensive effects although some controversial reports existed. The underlying mechanisms include relaxing smooth muscle contraction, enhancing endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity, reducing vascular inflammation, inhibiting renin activity, and anti-vascular oxidative stress based on ex-vivo tissue and in vitro cell culture studies.

Another study found that tea ingestion caused larger acute increases in blood pressure than caffeine alone. However, any acute effects of tea on blood pressure did not translate into significant alterations in ambulatory blood pressure during regular tea consumption.

Moreover, according to a research article by Medical News Today, drinking tea is most often associated with a range of health benefits, including a reduction in blood pressure. Researchers have found that the compound Catechins found in green or black tea relaxes and soothes muscles that line blood vessels which further leads to lower blood pressure.

“The new study first shows that two antioxidants in tea, known as catechins, open a protein channel in the membranes of the smooth muscle cells that line blood vessels. This allows positively charged potassium ions to leave the cells,” MNT adds.

Further search led us to a Healthline research article that says, adding a few varieties of teas to your day-to-day life might be a great way to manage your blood pressure but you need to keep in mind that not a substitute for medication or lifestyle improvements.

But before including anything new in your regime you must consult your physician who knows your medical history.