It’s often best to avoid drinking Green Tea in the weeks before having Plastic Surgery – here’s why.
There are several foods and drinks you may be asked to avoid before your cosmetic surgery procedure, in order to get good healing results and to minimise your surgery risks. Your Nursing team will often give you a list of what to avoid taking before a cosmetic procedure. Ask your Plastic Surgeon what foods, drinks and substances they want YOU to avoid during a consultation, preferably well before your surgery date, so you can plan. Honesty is pivotal – Be sure to let your Surgeon know all medications, supplements and substances you use on a regular basis – and which ones to avoid in the 10 to 14 days or longer, before your procedure.
Green tea is one of the favourite drinks of people wanting to boost their antioxidant levels or improve their health. It’s long been promoted as one of the best teas for boosting brain function, lowering infection risks, helping you recovery from the flu, and potentially helping you lose weight or reduce bloating. But drinking green tea in the days or weeks leading up to your plastic surgery procedure might negatively impact your healing process – or introduce greater risks during your cosmetic procedure.
Whilst normally it’s a good thing to drink and you may want to pick it up again once your Surgeon gives you the okay to do so, after surgery, you may be best to put down the green tea cups at least 2 weeks before surgery.
It may be best to avoid drinking green teas before your plastic surgery/cosmetic surgery procedure because:
- Green teas may potentially interact with your medications and even with your anaesthesia. The compounds in green tea can potentially react with certain medications, and they can cause issues with your heart rate or blood pressure. It’s crucial to talk to your Specialist Surgeon about any supplements and medicinal types of foods or beverages that are part of your daily or weekly routine.
- Green tea may influence the efficacy of other medications that you may need as you heal. Green tea, and many other herbal supplements or drinks, may actually alter the efficacy of certain medications – making them more powerful or making them less powerful, depending on your system and the type of supplement or tea.
- Impact your body’s ability to heal from surgery. Green tea has many benefits normally, but in terms of surgery, it has been shown to slow down your body’s natural blood clotting capacity. If your clotting capacity is impeded, this might increase your risk of complications during your surgical procedure, such as increasing your risk of losing too much blood. Slow blood clotting tendencies may also increase your chances of having complications which can readily lengthen your recovery and healing period.
What other foods, drinks, supplements or teas should you avoid before cosmetic surgery for best reduction of surgery risks?
Green tea isn’t the only culprit that can impede your surgery outcome or increase your risks.
Herbs, medicines, anti-inflammatory drugs, nicotine/tobacco and vitamin supplements can also be harmful to you, if taken less than a week before your cosmetic surgery procedure.
Other common foods, nutrients or supplements to ask your surgeon about nixing before and after your surgery include:
- Vitamin E – because it can cause excessive bleeding
- Vitamin C – because it can delay closing of your blood vessels
- Multivitamins – because they often include high levels of vitamins C and E.
- Vitamins K and B – typically are also best avoided.
- Allherbal supplements and herbal drinks should be stopped for the similar reasons as the vitamins listed above.
- Stimulants such as caffeine should be reduced or stopped entirely (ask your Surgeon)
- Other substances such as Alcohol, aspartame and MSG should be avoided leading up to a procedure.
- Fat reduction/fat burning supplements, detox products and weight loss/diet pills should definitely be avoided for at least2 solid weeks before surgery, sometimes longer (ask your Surgeon if you are taking prescription or over-the-counter herbal diet pills of any kind).
- Fish oil capsules or dishes that are very high in Omega 3’s, whilst normally helpful to health,may increase your risk of bleeding more than you otherwise would during surgery.
Avoid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Before Your Surgery
- Ask your Surgeon how to handle stopping products or medications that involve blood thinning substances, including aspirinand nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen) before surgery.
Ask us about our Rapid Recovery Packs which give you particular healing-promoting vitamins and supplements to take AFTER your Surgery, as advised by your Surgeon (follow your surgeon’s instructions on the WHEN and HOW OFTEN for the products in your Rapid Recovery package).
Surgical Dietary Recommendations
What you need to eat and drink – or AVOID eating and drinking – differ from the nutritional advice you might normally get from a Nutritionist or Doctor. It’s usually short term only, but needs to be managed with your Surgeon and/or Surgeon and GP (e.g. if you’re on certain medications for chronic health conditions).
The best thing you can do is to communicate honestly and openly with your Surgeon and Nursing/Patient Care team, and if you’re not sure about something you eat, drink or use regularly – whether a tea, a substance or a medication or supplement – please ask.