Black tea may help lower blood pressure

Three cups of black tea a day might help reduce blood pressure, researchers in Australia suggest. Lead author Professor Jonathan Hodgson of The University of Western Australia School of Medicine and Pharmacology said reducing high blood pressure could in turn reduce people's risk of heart disease. "There is already mounting evidence that tea is good for your heart health, but this is an important discovery because it demonstrates a link between tea and a major risk factor for heart disease," Hodgson said in a statement. The study involved 95 Australian participants ages 35-75 who were recruited to drink either three cups of black tea or a placebo with the same flavor and caffeine content, but not derived from tea. After six months, systolic and diastolic blood pressure was about 10 percent lower among participants who drank black tea, compared with that of the placebo group, researchers said. The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.