The cultivation of tea as a cultivated plant began in China in the 4th century AD. Much later, black tea became known in Europe, and from the end of the 20th century in the West and in our country, green tea was also consumed. Today, on the shelves of shops you can find a huge number of different varieties of raw materials, from which a flavored beverage is brewed, which helps to improve well-being and cleanse the body. However, many people are still interested in the question of whether it is possible to use green tea against blood pressure.
A bit of history
As already mentioned, tea began to be cultivated in China in ancient times. Moreover, it was originally used as a medicine and was available only to the higher nobility and clergy. It is not known whether then Chinese healers used green tea against blood pressure, but manuscripts were preserved that contain recipes for rheumatism ointments based on the leaves of this plant. In addition, water infusions from dried leaves were considered the best cure for eye diseases.
Tea came to Europe thanks to Dutch and English merchants and at first it was considered a medicine that can maintain vitality. Since aristocrats, tired of night balls and drinking, often resorted to this tool to get in shape, for example, to attend Parliament meetings, drinking this drink became part of the daily routine. By the way, tea came to Russia even earlier than to England. In particular, it is known that in 1567 its dried leaves from China to Moscow were brought by Cossack chieftains Petrov and Yalyshev.
What is the difference between black tea and green
Remember the joke about the debate about whether olives and olives can grow on the same tree or not? So, it turns out that the raw materials for black and green tea are grown on the same bush. Another thing is that the leaves are processed differently to obtain raw materials for brewing one or another drink. In particular, for green tea they are subjected to enzymatic oxidation by no more than 12 percent, and for black tea - by 80. Moreover, experts say that in the second case a significant part of the useful substances contained in the feedstock is lost.
What properties does green tea have
It is known that the leaves of this plant are a real storehouse of nutrients. So, some rare vitamins and useful microelements are present in large doses in them: fluorine, zinc, copper, iodine, manganese, calcium and phosphorus. In addition, green tea has a lot of vitamin C, which is a powerful antioxidant that boosts immunity and helps the body fight viruses and infections. It also contains a significant amount of vitamin P (an order of magnitude more than in black), which is known for its ability to have a beneficial effect on the walls of blood vessels. That is why there is an opinion that green tea affects pressure. Whether this is so, will be described in more detail later, but the ability of this drink to maintain normal blood sugar levels has been proven by clinical trials. As already mentioned, special antioxidant substances are present in tea leaves, so regular use of a drink prepared by brewing them helps to maintain the beauty and youth of the skin, and also slows down the aging process of the body as a whole.
Low blood pressure: symptoms
Today, doctors are trying to take an individual approach to patients. This also applies to blood pressure. In particular, the term “low pressure”, or hypotension, is now customary to denote a person’s condition, accompanied by a drop in blood pressure below the indicators that are observed in his normal state. If you still want specifics, then the average patient's norm is at least 100/60 mm. Hg. Art. However, some people can feel great even with the value of this indicator in 90/60 mm. Hg. Art. and even lower. Thus, the concern should be not only the numbers themselves, which are recorded by the tonometer, but also the presence of such concomitant symptoms as:
- lethargy, general weakness, increased fatigue;
- headaches localized in the neck;
- feeling of lack of air;
- shortness of breath, excessive sweating;
- dizziness that occurs when trying to get up or sit down from a lying position;
- nausea and vomiting.
Why can a person have hypotension
Before discussing how green tea and low blood pressure are related, you should understand the causes of this phenomenon. So, the first group of such patients inherits it from their parents, mainly from their mothers. It is clear that in this case the effect of green tea on pressure can hardly be so strong as to radically change the situation for the better. As for the rest, usually those who have been subjected to prolonged mental or psychoemotional stress for quite a long time usually suffer from hypotension. By the way, it is this category of people who most often wants to find out what the effect of green tea on pressure is.
Among the causes of hypotension can also be called low physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle. The fact is that in the latter case, there is a deterioration in the state of the heart and a decrease in lung ventilation, as well as a violation of mineral metabolism. Oddly enough, low blood pressure is sometimes observed in athletes, in whom the body switches to an “economical mode of operation” to withstand systematic physical exertion.
Symptoms of high blood pressure and the effects of this phenomenon on human health
If hypotension leads to a deterioration in the patient’s well-being, then hypertension in especially pronounced forms poses a great danger to their life. At an early stage, both diseases proceed with almost the same symptoms, such as fatigue, irritability, frequent headaches and dizziness, but later in people with high blood pressure, the heart can increase in size, and vasodilation and aneurysms can appear.
Why can a person have hypertension
Among the most common reasons why a person can develop hypertension, the following can be distinguished: impaired vascular tone and the functioning of the digestive tract, hormonal disruptions, muscle dystrophy, adrenal or kidney diseases, heart disease, inflammation and trauma, problems with the spine, etc. Obviously, that when a patient has one or another of them, then green tea against blood pressure is unlikely to help. In addition, the risk factors for the development of hypertension include alcohol abuse, a sedentary lifestyle, destructive behavioral reactions, and unhealthy diet.
Does green tea increase blood pressure, and is hypotonic worth using
To find out what effect this drink can have on the circulatory system and the heart of a person, you should get acquainted with the results of serious scientific research. So, on the question of how green tea and low blood pressure are related, scientists argue that the use of a decoction of tea leaves will not have any effect. The fact is that the caffeine that it contains stimulates the work of the heart, and it increases the volume of pumped blood, but the same substance activates the vasomotor center in the brain. As a result, the vessels expand, and pressure changes do not occur.
Should I use green tea against blood pressure
Japanese scientists have suggested that drinking green tea by healthy people can reduce the risk of myocardial infarction by 40 percent and reduce the likelihood of developing hypertension. Thus, on the question of how green tea and pressure are related, it can be said that this drink is a good preventive measure to prevent vessel problems. At the same time, skeptics argue that the data obtained are true only in relation to the inhabitants of the Japanese islands, who have an original food culture that is fundamentally different from that adopted in most countries of the world. So whether pressure increases green tea or lowers when it comes to residents of other regions of the planet, remains to be seen. In any case, there is not a single confirmed fact indicating that regular use of this drink may worsen a person’s well-being.
Summarizing all of the above, it can be argued that on the question of how green tea and pressure are related, experts do not have a single opinion, but it has been proved that it helps reduce bad cholesterol and strengthens blood vessels.