Black tea and coffee impact on steroid hormones status in young men

Abstract

Tea and coffee alkaloids affect the hormonal status of the body. There are reports about the effect of caffeine on the body under stress, but nearly absent reports on the effect of tea and coffee alkaloids at rest. The aim of this work was to determine whether there is a significant difference in testosterone and cortisol concentrations in the blood of young men before and after drinking indicated beverages. The work was carried out on 21 healthy young males that were tested for blood cortisol levels before and after drinking tea or coffee on an empty stomach. The young men were divided into two groups: the first group comprised those whose cortisol levels increased after taking a single dose of tea, the second group – whose cortisol decreased. The third group comprised persons who took a single dose of strong-grain coffee. In addition, adrenaline and testosterone levels were determined as a hormonal panel. Our pioneer investigation found that coffee causes a significant decrease in cortisol levels at rest, but tea consumption by coffee drinkers leads to a more pronounced decrease in the cortisol levels than coffee. Keywords: black tea, coffee, cortisol, young man