Last Updated on January 12, 2020 by The Health Master
Drinking tea regularly can help you live longer and healthier.
No, we aren’t kidding
Tea happens to be one of the most popular beverages across the globe.
While the caffeine-based drink is known to increases alertness and decreases sleepiness, a recent study has revealed that drinking tea at least three times a week could lead to healthy years of life and longer life expectancy.
Yes, you read that right.
The study was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Dr Xinyan Wang, who is the author of the study said, “Habitual tea consumption is associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and all-cause death.
The favourable health effects are the most robust for green tea and for long-term habitual tea drinkers.”
The study was conducted on 100,902 participants of the China-PAR project2 with no history of heart attack, stroke, or cancer.
Also read: Tea may improve brain health: Study
They were then classified into two groups:
habitual tea drinkers and never or non-habitual tea drinkers and followed-up for a median of 7.3 years.
Habitual tea drinkers
As per the findings of the study, habitual tea drinkers who maintained their habit in both surveys had a 56% lower risk of fatal heart disease and stroke, 39% lower risk of incident heart disease and stroke and 29% decreased risk of all-cause death compared to consistent never or non-habitual tea drinkers.
Senior author Dr Dongfeng Gu, said, “The protective effects of tea were most pronounced among the consistent habitual tea drinking group.
Mechanism studies have suggested that the main bioactive compounds in tea, namely polyphenols, are not stored in the body long-term.
Thus, frequent tea intake over an extended period may be necessary for the cardioprotective effect.”
Also read: 8 Clean trendy food in 2020 as per researchers
Green tea
Another thing to be noted here is that drinking green tea was linked with approximately 25% lower risks for incident heart disease and stroke, fatal heart disease and stroke, and all-cause death.
However, no significant associations were observed for black tea. Dr Gu noted that a preference for green tea is unique to East Asia.
The researchers concluded that randomised trials are required to validate the results and to illustrate nutritional guidelines and advice for lifestyle.
Also read: Is it important to drink water first thing in the morning?
