Possible Drug
Interactions with Green Tea
The following is an excerpt from the University of Maryland Medical Center
Database for alternative and complementary medicine.
If you are
currently being treated with any of the following medications, you should not
drink green tea or take green tea extract without first talking to your
healthcare provider: (NOTE:
GreenT+
does not contain caffeine, so all contradictions because of green tea
caffeine content do not apply to
GreenT+)
Adenosine
Green tea may inhibit the actions of adenosine, a medication administered in a
hospital setting for an irregular (and usually unstable) heart rhythm.
Antibiotics, beta-lactam
Green tea may increase the effectiveness of beta-lactam antibiotics by reducing
bacterial resistance to treatment.
Benzodiazepines
Caffeine (including caffeine from green tea) has been shown to reduce the
sedative effects of benzodiazepines (medications commonly used to treat anxiety,
such as diazepam and lorazepam).
Beta-blockers, propranolol and metoprolol
Caffeine (including caffeine from green tea) may increase blood pressure in
people taking propranolol and metoprolol (medications used to treat high blood
pressure and heart disease).
Blood Thinning Medications
Green tea should not be taken with warfarin, a blood-thinning medication,
because the herb contains vitamin K and, thus, can render warfarin ineffective.
Similarly, green tea and aspirin should not be mixed because they both
prevent platelets from clotting. Using the two together, therefore, may increase
your risk of bleeding.
Chemotherapy
The combination of green tea and chemotherapy medications, specifically
doxorubicin and tamoxifen, increased the effectiveness of these medications in
laboratory tests. These results have not yet been demonstrated in studies of
people, however.
On the other hand, there have been reports of both green and black tea
extracts stimulating a gene in prostate cancer cells that may cause them to be
less sensitive to chemotherapy drugs. Given this potential interaction, black
and green tea (as well as extracts of these teas) should not be taken while
receiving chemotherapy for prostate cancer in particular.
Clozapine
The anti-psychotic effects of the medication clozapine may be reduced if taken
less than 40 minutes after drinking green tea.
Ephedrine
When taken together with ephedrine, green tea may cause agitation, tremors,
insomnia, and weight loss.
Lithium
Green tea has been shown to reduce blood levels of lithium (a medication used to
treat manic/depression).
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
Green tea may cause a severe increase in blood pressure (called a "hypertensive
crisis") when taken together with MAOIs used to treat depression. Examples of
MAOIs include phenelzine and tranylcypromine.
Oral contraceptives
Oral contraceptives can prolong the amount of time caffeine stays in the body
and may increase its stimulating effects.
Phenylpropanolamine
A combination of caffeine (including caffeine from green tea) and
phenylpropanolamine (an ingredient used in many over-the-counter and
prescription cough and cold medications and weight loss products)can cause mania
and a severe increase in blood pressure. The FDA issued a public health advisory
in November 2000 to warn people of the risk of bleeding in the brain from use of
this medication and has strongly urged all manufacturers of this drug to remove
it from the market.
