Cut back pretty significantly on alcohol because of BP. Any tea recommendations?

Apologies for rambling.

Went to the doctor a little over a week ago. I'm not a lard, eat pretty well (seriously, not just saying that) but my blood pressure was through the freaking roof. I think a bit of it was white coat syndrome, a bit was that I had to get blood drawn, but either of those were not an excuse. It was so bad that she told me I would have to go to the ER if it didn't drop a bit by the end of the appointment. I seriously hate getting blood drawn, and always get flipped crap because I have two half sleeves. It's not the needles, it's stealing my delicious essence. Blood doesn't bug me, but letting someone stick a needle in the crook of my elbow grosses me out.

I had been on a bit of a bender. I was drinking about a fifth of vodka a night, and when I say about, that's because it was a little more. Iwould sayfive nights a week. She asked if I blacked out, I don't. Asked if I was hungover, doesn't happen, just laziness and liked a little more sleep.

Scared the crap out of me. Quit drinking, monitoring BP. I was seriously scary high, like 170/120. Haven't had (save for tonight) in ten days, down to 130/87. Longest I've gone without getting drunk in at least 5 years. Nothing else really changed. I've also dropped ten pounds, a lot of which has to be water weight.

I don't really get cravings, and I don't have the shakes. When I first started drinking it was to cope with anxiety, and it became a habit. After a certain point I would have to drink more for the same effect, and that led me here.

I started drinking tea at night, not really as a replacement for the alcohol, more as a replacement for the ritual. Might not make sense to everyone. When I quit smoking the thing that bugged me most was losing the ritual. Go outside and smoke after a meal, first thing in the morning, last thing before bed, take a break and go outside for a smoke, smoke before a task, smoke after a task was completed. It was a weird punctuation in my day to day.

I'm really liking chamomile tea, and would love to try some more stuff! I'm fairly sensitive to caffeine, so would appreciate things without it for night time use, or things with a mild amount for mornings.

I do not have a refined palate. I can't taste the subtleteas (I know I'm not funny). I picked up the chamomile on a whim after staring with a blank expression at the massive wall of stuff at the grocery store and noticing it had a "caffeine free" banner. I want to like green tea, but I get an almost fishy taste from it. No idea why. Only one I tried didn't give me that after taste, and I can't remember the brand.

Don't mind if you suggest something loose leaf or bagged, only real stipulation would be that it's something I could buy from Amazon or in a store. If there's something that actually offers health benefits and tastes good, AWESOME!

I really enjoy a herbal peppermint tea... and it’s very soothing on the tummy. There are many brands that are good.

Good luck with your new lifestyle choices ! I’m sure your heart will appreciate the effort 🙂.

if you can find it over there try chinese puer tea nice flavour along with relaxing .

also invest in a proper tea set to better appreciate the flavour .

takes bit more effort to make as opposed to typical bagged tea found in most markets but well worth it .

Definitely check out hibiscus tea. I mix in some honey and a few blueberries or blackberries.
Hibiscus tea and blood pressure.

Matcha is also good, but this one is my favorite. Gynostemma is an adaptogen.




per the description:
Gynostemma has the ability to bring balance to the body under a wide range of challenging circumstances. Studies found that Gynostemma has double-direction, regulating, adaptogenic influence on the central nervous system. It is calming when one is overexcited and invigorating when one is fatigued.

Hi! Great news though, by the sounds of it you are having better steps ahead!

I can recommend black currant tea, im newb with tea as well, have tried few and i do like all kinds and even those that didnt taste good for me at first, i realized too keep the tea soaked half the time than before and this way i can easily learn too favor new tastes, specially when some of those teas with great effects are first very strong at least for my taste.

Anyhow, they say black currant are High in Vitamin C and to have Anti-Inflammatory Aid - Anti-Viral Benefit - Anti-Cancer Benefit and it really is great tasting tea!

Great too hear you are winning over bad habits and your feeling better already, personally i can tell that the benefits will only grow, just keep your best interest for you and you will keep finding better ways to go about.

I have had similar battles with alcohol and blood pressure. My Doc put me on a simple medication (metoprolol tartrare ) to keep my bp in check. It also helped with my heart rhythm. The alcohol was not so simple. Like you, I found it was the ritual for me as well. Two or three double martinis after work helped me relax. Unfortunately I put on an extra twenty pounds as well and the weight contributed to the already high blood pressure.

Long storie short, I wound up at the Emergency Room one day. The chronic high blood pressure has caused a slight enlargement of my heart, and the drinking led to a fatty liver.

I now monitor my bp weekly at home, take my one pill each morning, and cut almost all caffeine from my diet. Changing to decaffeinated coffee was a cast iron bitch, as I love my coffee. Also I had to cut back the alcohol. I found it was the ritual of mixing the drink and taking the time for my self in the afternoon that I missed the most. I started with mixing soda water with fresh cut lime, lemon, or a slice of orange, helped me fill ritual. I still miss the booze and I have a few once and a while. Am I an alcoholic? Maybe, I can go two weeks without a drink and with out a problem, but I miss the ritual of a party lifestyle. I hope you learned something from my little story as I did from yours.

Where do you live? Apparently in many places like Canada and several states are David’s tea which will be able to give you a great deal of choices and be able to tell you which has caffeine. And they have very great teas David’s Tea

Try some ayurvedic teas. Should be in some stores that sell organic stuff.

Also, try one thing for the blood pressure. Take half a tablespoon of (or thereabouts) of cayenne pepper straight up and swallow with water. Might lower it to some degree. Works for me at least.

I got put on a medication that makes carbonated stuff taste like a crap around 10 years ago. I've been drinking tea ever since.

Most days, I do simple black or green tea.

But there are some special blends I really like.

Anything with a mint in it is good. One of my favorite hot teas is Bigelow's Plantation Mint. It's a black tea with spearmint mixed in. Then herbal mint blends are also really nice. Mint is good to settle your stomach, so is stuff with ginger or lemon.

I've also developed a taste for a nice Earl Grey. Something about the bergamot ... but it took me a while to get into tea enough to really appreciate it, if you're new to tea, I might leave it for later.

You might check out some orange spice blends. There are some floating around that don't even really taste like tea.

If the strong tea taste gets you down, try white or green tea blends. They are usually much milder in tea flavor.

I second the black currant tea. It's really pretty good, especially if your palatte is one that isn't used to a lot of refined sugar in everything. Also, I don't know if you live around any Quick Trip convenience stores, but they have a pineapple papaya green tea in both sweetened and unsweetened version that I absolutely adore ... just go for unsweetened. They use enough sweetener to make your pancreas cry uncle after a few swallows! Actually, QT has a lot of tea options that are good and they carry all of them in sweet and unsweet.

Oh, and I also like anise in my tea too when I can find it, but that's an acquired taste I think.

a reply to: Domo1

Congrats on quitting/cutting back!
And trying new, healthier things!

No doubt your bender and the white coat syndrome had a lot to do with the pressure readings.
My husband has a bit of the white coat syndrome.
We opted to buy a pressure cuff to check the readings at home. He kept track for a week or two before his appointment and took the readings with him....proves that the readings are lower away from the doctor.
We got this one.... cuff

Good idea on the chamomile tea, caffeine at night disrupts sleep, IMHO!!!
I use this, the bag lasts forever, and I like the taste.
health benefits
www.healthbenefitstimes.com...

Tyramines raise blood pressure. Alcoholic beverage are tyramines. so is anything aged. Alcohol itself is not really a tyramine, but what gives it the distinct flavor is concentrated tyramines. If you have low BP, it can be good for you.

Now if you drink till you start peeing, the kidneys can correct some of the problem, as long as you do not consume way too much sodium. Sugar causes the kidneys to reuptake sodium also. same with many carbs. The problem with drinking lots is that you can actually pee or sweat out too much leaving you hypovolemic, that means not enough blood volume. That can cause it's own problems, it can give you head spins when you try to get out of bed. With this, it can lead to some very serious problems for some people who are prone to this kind of thing..

Coffee stimulates you to pee too, so does tea. Now it can lead to the same low blood volume situation. If you start to get light headed because your arteries expand, orthostatic hypotension, then try drinking a glass of plain water to keep the full event from happening, laying down helps too, but the dehydration can lead to less blood flow to the brain, so drink some plain water when you get symptoms.

As like anything, talk to your doctor about this. Find a doctor that knows about this kind of stuff. Some food chemistry triggers the heart to beat harder, so does exercise and stress. That can be a problem when dealing with this. Treatments that work to control this and possible AFIB resulting from what I am talking about can include Beta blockers, or even beta blocking chemistry in food choices. I have a problem with Beta blockers and my tachychardia, but I have a hereditary factor for this and what I have is kind of rare, most people do not have a sitting heart rate of one twenty.

Good luck, discuss your condition with the doctor, he has access to tests. Potassium and sodium levels are important to evaluate for this problem. I pee out all my salt, that is part of the reason my heart beats so fast, but not the only factor.

peppermint teas are great, tasty and refreshing.... my BP was edging up pretty high when i was drinking more, too. i cut back on that and the caffeine and have seen a good improvement. i hope you do too. it's not easy!

ETA: bigelow (i think) makes a lovely green tea with mint. that might fight back the 'fishy' taste you're not liking.

also, if you were drinking to deal with anxiety (as was i), i was also helped with the anxiety and to hold back on the drinking by getting on a med for it. i'm taking something pretty mild called buspar, might make sense for you to consider? the only side effect i've had is occasional mild dizziness after taking it, which passes off quickly -- but the benefits have been huge. i cannot understate this.

Also, you want fresh tea.

Tea that has been sitting around for very long or places that make tea and don't keep their stuff clean or that let it sit around tend to get a real nasty taste in theirs.

It's all about personal preference. I find some to be bitter tasting or the mix in some herbal teas just don't taste good. I like chamomile and peppermint as well as other herbal teas. You can even go to shops that sell dried herbs that tell you what they are good for. Put some in one of those metal cage type thingies that you just put into your cup instead of a tea bag. Hell, they even sell bags you can fill and put into the cups.

Usually I just buy blends that are already made and come in a box. Try different ones and see what you prefer. I love trying new things.

a reply to: ketsuko

... they have a pineapple papaya green tea in both sweetened and unsweetened version that I absolutely adore ...

That sounds delightful!

a reply to: Domo1

Just to add to the mix.

You could try "Sun Tea". I can't help you with caffeine levels but Sun Tea is basically cold brewed tea using the power of the sun to gently make an ice-tea kind of beverage. Supposedly the flavour is better due to slow brewing. There are plenty of recipes on the internet but it is basically just putting cold water in a clear bottle, adding your tea(bags?) of choice and let the bottle stand in direct sunlight for a few hours. Strain, and serve.

Mint is a great addition for tea as a previous poster mentioned. Mint is quite a healthy plant no matter how it is used and it tastes wonderful. Good luck!

ETA You can chill the tea afterwards in the fridge and also add your own flavourings, such as lemon. Lipton Ice-Tea costs a pretty penny here. Sun Tea costs just the price of the tea, the water and any flavourings you may care to add. I would advise against adding sugar to the mix while brewing. If you need a little sweetness, raw cane sugar or honey is imho the way to go, just not too much. Add the sweetness after brewing.

a reply to: Domo1

Red Rooibos tea is pretty great as a relaxing night capper and is totally caffeine free.

I looove Chai tea. I don't know if anyone suggested it ( I scrolled through the comments)
Stash Chai tea with a bit of french vanilla creamer or peppermint with cornerstone sweet cream creamer. Yum