Herbal Tea for Older Adults: Medicines, Falls and Fluid Balance

Read this first

• Bring the tea to the medicine review. NIH says dietary supplements may interact with medications or pose risks for people with certain medical problems or who are about to have surgery. [1] Herbal teas can be sold as supplements, and NIH lists teas among the forms of herbal supplements. [1] Tell the prescriber and pharmacist about every tea you drink regularly, including blends.
• Licorice root. NIH says the licorice component glycyrrhizin can cause serious adverse effects such as irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest. [2] It adds that even small amounts have been linked to severe adverse effects in some people. [2] Our licorice root tea page explains the details.
• If someone is very unwell, struggling to breathe, or may have swallowed too much of a product: in the US, call 911, or Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222. Other countries are listed in poison help by country.

Why older adults get their own page

Most herbal tea research does not separate older adults from everyone else, and our PubMed searches did not return a trial of herbal tea in older adults that measured medicine interactions. What the sources do show is a pattern around the tea cup: older people take more medicines, and herbal products are often used without the clinician knowing.

These studies counted supplements broadly. They do not tell us how often a cup of tea, rather than a capsule or extract, was the problem. A result for one form does not transfer to another.

Teas that sources flag for older adults

This table repeats what NIH says about each herb. It is not a list of teas to avoid, and the pages cited are about the herb in general, not only the tea.

Plant names were checked against GBIF. [10] The plant part and form differ between products, so check the label. See also how interactions work and herbal tea and medicine interactions.

Falls and sleepiness

NIH lists drowsiness, dizziness and confusion as possible side effects of passionflower. [7] Proper evidence not found for herbal tea and falls in older adults: our PubMed searches for sedating herbs (valerian, chamomile, passionflower) with falls in older people returned no study of herbal tea that measured falls. A side-effect list is not the same as a measured fall risk. If a tea makes you sleepy or unsteady, tell the prescriber, especially if you also take sleep or anxiety medicines.

Fluid and salt balance

Proper evidence not found for a trial of ordinary herbal tea changing sodium levels in older adults. What the sources we read describe are case reports, which show that something can happen but not how often:

• A 67-year-old man developed severe low sodium (hyponatremia) after a five-day "kidney detox" that included drinking over a gallon of fluid a day, including a herbal tea blend. [11]
• Another report describes a woman whose low sodium followed regular use of an over-the-counter "detox" tea product that increased her urination. [12]

See detox, slimming and laxative teas and diuretic teas and fluid balance.

What a reader can safely do

• Keep one written list of medicines, supplements and teas and bring it to appointments. FDA advises talking to a doctor, pharmacist or other professional before using a supplement. [13]
• Ask whether any tea should be avoided with your medicines, kidney or heart conditions, or an upcoming procedure.
• Check labels for licorice, which is easy to miss in blends. See licorice in tea blends.
• Do not stop or change a prescribed medicine because of a tea. Ask the prescriber or pharmacist.

For the wider picture, see older adults and medicine interactions.