Can Chamomile Tea Raise Blood Pressure?

For most people, chamomile tea won’t raise blood pressure, and it’s more likely to leave readings unchanged or slightly lower.

If you’re here because you saw a claim that chamomile spikes blood pressure, you’re not alone. Herbal teas get lumped together, labels are vague, and “natural” gets treated like “always safe.” Blood pressure doesn’t work that way.

Chamomile (often German or Roman chamomile) is caffeine-free and known for its calming effect. If a cup lines up with a higher reading, it’s often due to the blend, the snack, or the measurement.

Can Chamomile Tea Raise Blood Pressure? What The Evidence Points To

Research on chamomile and blood pressure is limited, and most studies were not designed to test “raising” blood pressure as the main outcome. What we do have points in one direction: chamomile is not known as a blood-pressure-raising herb. If anything, it shows up more often alongside relaxation and modest blood pressure easing in some contexts.

That doesn’t mean chamomile is a blood pressure treatment. It means the “raise” claim is not the typical pattern. In everyday use, most people drink it and see no meaningful change in their numbers.

If a reading rises after chamomile, treat it like a clue and check measurement, timing, added ingredients, and medicine overlap.

How Blood Pressure Moves After A Drink

Blood pressure changes minute to minute. Drinks can shift it through a few basic levers:

• Fluid volume: Large amounts of liquid can nudge volume up short-term. Dehydration can also trigger stress responses that push readings up.
• Stimulants: Caffeine and certain “energy” herbs can raise readings in sensitive people.
• Relaxation: Slower breathing and less tension can lower readings, especially if stress is your trigger.
• Blood vessel tone: Some plant compounds can affect how tight or relaxed vessels are.
• Medicine overlap: Mixing herbs with prescriptions can change how your body handles either one.

Chamomile sits mostly in the relaxation bucket. So if your cup seems tied to higher numbers, look for a second cause riding along with it.

What’s In Chamomile That Might Affect Your Numbers

Chamomile flowers contain many compounds, but one that gets talked about a lot is apigenin. Apigenin is linked with calming effects in lab work and small human studies. A calmer nervous system often means lower “fight-or-flight” output, which can mean less blood pressure lift from stress.

Chamomile can also act as a mild antispasmodic and may influence smooth muscle activity. That’s part of why it’s used for stomach comfort in traditional settings. Those effects don’t translate neatly into “raises blood pressure.” If anything, smooth muscle relaxation trends the other way.

Safety summaries from the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health note that chamomile is generally well tolerated for most adults, with the main cautions tied to allergy and drug interactions. You can read the current safety notes on NCCIH’s chamomile overview.

When Chamomile Tea Can Seem Like It Raised Blood Pressure

Here are the situations that most often explain a higher reading after chamomile. These are practical, not theoretical. They’re also the ones you can fix quickly.

Blends With Caffeine Or “Energy” Herbs

Many “chamomile” tea bags are blends. Some include green tea, black tea, yerba mate, guarana, or other stimulating ingredients. Even a small caffeine dose can bump readings for some people, especially if you don’t drink it often.

Check the ingredient panel. If it lists Camellia sinensis (green/black tea) or anything marketed as energizing, treat it like a caffeinated drink.

Licorice Root In The Same Blend

Licorice root is a common “sweetener” in herbal blends. It’s also one of the clearest plant-based triggers for higher blood pressure in some people. If your chamomile blend contains licorice root (often listed as Glycyrrhiza), that’s a prime suspect.

Salt, Snacks, And Timing

People often pair chamomile with salty snacks at night: chips, instant noodles, cured meats. Sodium can push blood pressure up, and the tea becomes a bystander.

Blood pressure can also rise after a hot shower, a late work call, a tense conversation, or rushing around the house. If your “after tea” reading is also your “after life” reading, it can mislead you.

Wrong Cuff Size Or Inconsistent Technique

Home readings get noisy when the cuff is too small, your arm isn’t resting, or you take it right after standing up. The American Heart Association’s home measurement steps are a solid standard, including sitting quietly for a few minutes and keeping the cuff at heart level. Their guidance is laid out on AHA’s blood pressure readings page.

Interactions With Medicines That Change Blood Pressure

Chamomile can interact with certain medicines, which can indirectly change blood pressure for a small number of people. The better-known interaction concern is with blood thinners. Still, any interaction that changes sleep, anxiety, bleeding risk, or medicine levels can lead to a different reading the next day.

If you take prescription medicines, especially anticoagulants, sedatives, or immunosuppressants, use the interaction warnings on the NCCIH page as your baseline and ask your clinician or pharmacist about your specific mix.

Common Scenarios And What To Do Next

The goal isn’t to “prove” chamomile is innocent. The goal is to find what is actually shifting your numbers, then decide if chamomile stays in your routine.

If You Have High Blood Pressure And Want A Calm Night Drink

Plain chamomile tea is a reasonable option for many people because it’s caffeine-free. Brew it without added sugar, and keep the rest of your evening routine steady. If your readings tend to climb at night, the relaxing ritual may help you wind down.

Track your blood pressure over several days, not one night. A helpful pattern is two readings in the morning and two at night for a week, written down with notes about sleep, caffeine, and medicine timing. That kind of log is easier to act on than a single spike.

If Your Blood Pressure Runs Low

If you already deal with low readings, dizziness, or lightheadedness, chamomile may make you feel more relaxed and sleepy, which can overlap with low-blood-pressure symptoms. In that case, keep servings small, and avoid combining it with alcohol or sedating medicines.

If You’re Pregnant Or Breastfeeding

Pregnancy adds another layer: product purity, allergy risk, and unknown dosing. Some authorities advise caution with medicinal-dose herbal products in pregnancy. If you still want a warm caffeine-free drink, it’s worth asking your prenatal care team about chamomile in tea amounts.

If You Take Warfarin Or Other Blood Thinners

This is the group that should be extra careful. Chamomile has been reported to interact with blood thinners, raising bleeding risk. That’s not a blood pressure effect, but it’s a safety issue that can change how you should use the tea. If you’re on anticoagulants, treat “daily chamomile” like a decision you clear with your prescriber.

Table: What Usually Drives A Higher Reading After “Chamomile”

What’s Going On	Why It Can Raise Readings	What To Try
Tea bag is a blend with caffeine	Stimulants can tighten vessels and lift pulse in sensitive people	Switch to single-ingredient chamomile; avoid “sleep + green tea” blends
Blend includes licorice root	Licorice can raise blood pressure and lower potassium in some people	Choose licorice-free teas; read ingredient lists closely
Salty snack with the tea	Sodium can raise blood pressure within hours	Pair tea with fruit, yogurt, or unsalted nuts
Reading taken right after activity	Movement and stress hormones can spike a single reading	Sit quietly 5 minutes before measuring
Cuff is too small or arm isn’t resting	Poor technique can overestimate systolic pressure	Use correct cuff size; keep arm at heart level
Tea is sweetened heavily	Large sugar loads can raise heart rate and affect short-term readings	Skip sugar; use cinnamon or a squeeze of citrus instead
Medicine timing changed the same day	Missed or delayed doses can push pressure up	Keep medicine routine steady when testing tea effects
Dehydration earlier in the day	Low fluid can trigger stress response and tighter vessels	Hydrate earlier; don’t rely on one late cup

How To Check Your Own Response Without Guessing

If you want a clean answer for your body, run a simple home test that keeps the usual traps out of the way. It’s not a lab study, but it’s far better than vibe-based conclusions.

Step 1: Pick The Tea You Mean

Use a single-ingredient chamomile tea for the test. No “sleep blend,” no added herbs, no caffeine. Brew it the same way each time. If you use loose flowers, measure the same amount per cup.

Step 2: Lock In Your Measurement Routine

Use the same arm, the same cuff, and the same chair. Sit with feet on the floor, back steady, and arm resting at heart level. Take two readings, one minute apart, and write down the average.

Step 3: Compare Like With Like

Pick three nights with chamomile and three nights without it. Keep dinner, salt intake, and bedtime roughly consistent. If you change three things at once, you won’t know what moved the needle.

Step 4: Look For A Pattern, Not A Spike

If your systolic number jumps once, that’s noise. If it trends higher on chamomile nights across several readings, that’s a signal. At that point, check the label again, then talk with your clinician about whether an interaction or another trigger might be in play.

Table: Who Should Be Cautious With Chamomile Tea

Situation	Why Caution Makes Sense	Safer Move
Blood thinner use (warfarin, similar drugs)	Reported interaction risk that can increase bleeding	Ask your prescriber before using regularly
Allergy to ragweed or daisy family plants	Higher chance of allergic reaction	Avoid chamomile; pick a different caffeine-free drink
Sedative or sleep medicine use	Calming effect may add to drowsiness	Use small servings; avoid mixing close to dosing
Low blood pressure symptoms	Relaxation and warmth can overlap with dizziness	Drink earlier in the evening; stand up slowly
Upcoming surgery	Bleeding and sedation concerns are sometimes raised with herbs	Stop optional herbs ahead of surgery per your surgical team
Pregnancy or breastfeeding	Limited safety data for regular medicinal use	Ask your prenatal care team; keep intake modest
Using concentrated extracts or capsules	Doses can exceed tea amounts by a lot	Stick to tea unless a clinician advised otherwise

What To Buy So You’re Actually Drinking Chamomile

Pick a product that lists only chamomile flower. Skip blends with long ingredient lists, especially if you have plant allergies.

Signs You Should Stop And Get Medical Help

If you feel chest pain, severe shortness of breath, fainting, new weakness on one side, or a severe headache with confusion, treat that as urgent. Don’t try to “tea-test” your way through it.

For non-urgent concerns, like repeated unusually high readings or dizziness that keeps returning, bring your home log and your tea label to a clinician visit. You’ll get a far cleaner answer.