The health benefits of black tea

Maki Inoue-Choi and her colleagues from National Institutes of Health Americans used data from the UK Biobank where black tea consumption is common to assess associations with all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

They also assessed whether the associations differ depending on the addition of milk and sugar, the temperature of the tea, and genetic variants affecting the rate at which people metabolize caffeine.

The UK Biobank includes data on half a million men and women, aged 40 to 69 at registration, who completed a baseline questionnaire between 2006 and 2010.

Among them, 85% regularly drank tea and among them, 89% drank black tea.

The results, published in August 2022 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicineshow that during a follow-up of about 12 years, those who drank 2 or more cups each day had a 9-13% lower risk of mortality compared to non-tea drinkers.

Mortality from overall cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and stroke was reduced. (Tea and hypertension)

These associations were observed regardless of whether the participants also drank coffee, added milk or sugar to their tea, the temperature they preferred for tea, or genetic variants related to caffeine metabolism.

These results suggest that tea, even at high consumption levels, can be part of a healthy diet, the researchers conclude.

For more information on tea and health, see the links below.

Psychomedia with sources: American College of Physicians, Annals of Internal Medicine.
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