If you drink tea on a regular basis, you may notice some heart-related symptoms that occur relatively shortly after you enjoy your beverage of choice. While some teas don't have the potential to affect your heart, others can cause your heart rate to increase and may even cause the sensation of a "flutter."
Tea and Caffeine
A wide variety of different beverages fall under the general heading of "tea." True teas are made with tea leaves, which contain different amounts of caffeine depending on how they're processed. Black tea, green tea and white tea -- unless they've been decaffeinated, which you can determine from the packaging -- all contain caffeine. Herbal teas generally aren't caffeinated but may contain other substances that affect your body.
Caffeine Effects
Caffeine is one of the substances in some teas most likely to cause you to experience heart flutters, or palpitations. Medline Plus explains that palpitations feel as though your heart is beating quite fast for a period of time, or may feel as though your heart is skipping beats occasionally. You may feel anxious or a bit faint during palpitations. Because caffeine excites part of the nervous system that regulates your heartbeat, it's a common culprit in increasing your risk of heart palpitations, but in most cases, the fluttering isn't dangerous.
Caffeine-Like Substances
One of the herbal beverages that's been showing up more in the United States in recent years is called yerba mate, or mate. Mate is a traditional beverage in South America, especially in the Andes mountains, and there's been some debate as to whether it contains caffeine or another caffeine-like substance, tentatively given the name mateine. While there's still no scientific evidence that mateine exists, if it does, it can cause heart palpitations similar to those caused by caffeine.
Other Substances
Some teas contain noncaffeine substances that stimulate the heart. For instance, MayoClinic.com notes that a Chinese herb called ma huang, which was once common in herbal teas sold in the United States, can cause your heart rate to increase and your heart to flutter. Ma huang is no longer legal for sale in the U.S., but if you have older herbal teas in your home -- ma huang was banned in 2004 -- they may still contain the substance.
