Several big studies have lately discovered that drinking several cups of tea daily may provide various health advantages.
Drinking many cups of tea daily provides various health advantages, including a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and overall mortality.
The most recent study on the matter, a meta-analysis of 19 trials, will be presented next week at the annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. The study found that consuming at least four cups of black, green, or Oolong tea per day reduced a person’s chance of getting type 2 diabetes by 17% over a decade.
A Chinese team performed the study, which included almost one million people from eight different nations. According to the research, consuming fewer cups of tea provides less benefit. According to the findings, drinking one to three cups of coffee daily only reduced the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 4%. Each additional daily cup reduced the chance of getting diabetes by 1%.
“Our findings are interesting because they imply that people may do something as easy as drinking four cups of tea a day to potentially lower their chance of acquiring type 2 diabetes,” said Xiaying Li, a Wuhan University of Science researcher and Technology.
A recent study indicated that consuming two or more daily cups of black tea reduced mortality by 9% to 13% among persons in the United Kingdom over 14 years, compared to those who drank no tea. The study also found a link between consuming a lot of tea and decreased coronary heart disease and stroke risk.
“We think our findings will be very reassuring to people who are already drinking tea,” said Dr Maki Inoue-Choi, a staff scientist at the National Cancer Institute who led that research.
Inoue-Choi said even among the people in her study who drank more than 10 cups per day, “we didn’t see any negative effects on mortality risk.”
Tea’s Antioxidants May Help To Decrease Inflammation.
The health advantages of tea may be due to polyphenols, which are antioxidant substances found naturally in plants.
“These molecules may reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the body, potentially lowering the chance of developing certain health disorders like heart disease,” Inoue-Choi explained.
Catechins, the major polyphenols in green tea, may be especially beneficial in disease prevention by shielding cells from harm. Catechins are converted to theaflavins, another antioxidant, when green tea leaves are fermented to generate black tea.
According to Inoue-Choi, this might explain why green and black tea appears to have health benefits. It might also explain why people need to drink a lot of tea to have a lower risk of sickness or death.
Indeed, the Chinese researchers discovered in a separate study of 5,200 adults that when the number of cups of tea drunk was not considered, the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes was essentially the same for tea drinkers and non-tea drinkers.
According to Inoue-findings, Choi’s adding milk or sugar to tea did not lessen the health advantages, although participants used those items sparingly.
“The sweetened tea from the store has a lot more sugar,” she said. “We should still follow the dietary guidelines to avoid too much sugar and too much-saturated fat.”
However, Inoue-study Choi’s found no link between consuming tea and a lower cancer mortality risk.
Although prior research has shown that drinking tea may lower the incidence of prostate, lung, ovarian, or colorectal cancer, one study discovered that consuming three cups of black tea per day was a major risk factor for breast cancer.
Another study discovered a link between consuming very hot tea (over 149 degrees Fahrenheit) and an increased risk of oesophagal cancer.
“Cancer findings have been more mixed,” Inoue-Choi said, adding that additional study is required. “The findings for heart disease or stroke have been more consistent.”
For the time being, scientists, she says, aren’t making general recommendations about how much tea to consume.
“We would not advise individuals to modify their tea consumption purely based on this particular study,” Inoue-Choi stated.
