untitled design

Drinking tea may reduce risk of death, study suggests

You know how that warm cup of tea in your favorite mug sometimes seems to heal the soul? A new study has found that it can be good for your body, too.

Drinking two or more cups of black tea a day is associated with a lower risk of death overall, according to a study published this week in the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Annals of Internal Medicine. English).

The research analyzed around 500,000 men and women aged between 40 and 69 who participated, between 2006 and 2010, in the UK Biobank, the UK’s biomedical database that houses genetic and health information. The repository includes information that participants reported about their tea drinking habits, such as how often and what was added to the drink, according to the study.

Some participants did not drink black tea, but as the data came from the UK, there were many people who consumed the drink regularly – including some who drank up to 10 cups a day, according to the study’s lead author, Maki Inoue-Choi, an epidemiologist at the Institute. National Cancer Institute of the United States.

Biobank followed up about ten years after the original work, and the researchers found that people who drank two or more cups of tea daily in the meantime were less likely to die from causes such as cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, or stroke. stroke, according to the study.

The research is an interesting look at tea drinking, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before recommending dietary changes, as warned Howard Sesso, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA. Sesso was not involved in the study.

“The authors have tried to control for other dietary factors, but tea drinkers often differ from tea drinkers in other ways as well, which could undermine these findings. We need more randomized controlled trials that assess tea intake,” Sesso said in an email.

But what about milk and sugar?

For many tea drinkers, the method of preparation is crucial.

What should the water temperature be? Can you drink it straight? Can you for milk? And sugar? If yes, how much?

If you can’t imagine drinking plain tea, don’t worry. There was no significant reduction in health benefits for those who added milk or sugar, the study indicated.

However, this does not mean that this is the healthiest way to consume tea. Inoue-Choi commented that health experts strongly recommend limiting sugar and saturated fats, such as those in milk.

Experts suggest that tea be consumed without sugar or milk.

Should I change my habits?

While it’s hard to be sure based on the research done so far, Inoue-Choi said there are a few good reasons why black tea can be very beneficial.

“There are several possible mechanisms,” he mentioned. “Tea is rich in bioactive compounds, which have the potential to decrease oxidative stress and inflammation. This may protect against some conditions, such as cancer and heart disease.”

A lot of research has already been done on the health benefits of green tea. Observational studies, such as one from 2013, suggest that it could slow the growth of precancerous lesions, while another work from 2014 found that green tea consumption is associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline.

Both black tea and green tea are variations of the same plant, camellia sinensis, but few studies so far have looked at the impacts of consuming black tea, Inoue-Choi said.

Due to the lack of research, it may not be time to include black tea in your routine yet, he added.

“Our findings may reassure people who already drink tea every day, but we are not recommending that people decide to start drinking tea, or change how much they consume today,” Inoue-Choi warned.

People shouldn’t rely on the results of a single study to make these kinds of changes, he warned, and more research is needed to complement the findings.

“This research does not prove that drinking tea reduces mortality, but it does suggest that if you already drink tea – and in particular black tea, which is the main type consumed in the UK – you can continue to drink it,” concluded Sesso.

Source: CNN Brasil

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular