A study that has just been published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology , a journal of the European Society of Cardiology, links frequent consumption of tea, especially green, at least three times a week , with a longer and healthier life .
“Regular tea consumption is associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause,” said study first author Dr. Xinyan Wang of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing. 100,902 people with no history of heart attacks, strokes and cancer participated in the research.
But why is the consumption of green tea related to a longer and healthier life and not black or red? The reason could be due to the high content of polyphenols that green contains and that help protect against cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors, including high blood pressure and dyslipidemia . In the case of black tea, being fully fermented, its polyphenols have been oxidized and could lose their antioxidant effects . In addition, the latter is usually taken with milk, which, according to previous research, may counteract the favorable effects on the vascular function of tea.
In a sub-analysis by tea type, green tea consumption was associated with approximately 25% lower risks of incident heart disease and stroke, fatal heart disease and stroke, and death from all causes. However, no significant associations were observed for black tea.
Dr. Dongfeng Gu, of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and lead author of the study, points out that in East Asia green tea is consumed mainly and that in the sample used in the study, 49% of the habitual drinkers of Tea consumed green tea more frequently, while only 8% preferred black tea. This small proportion of frequent black tea drinkers could interfere with making associations between tea consumption and benefits. However, Gu, based on the findings, does believe that there are differences between green and black tea in terms of having a longer and healthier life.
The researchers saw how the beneficial effects of tea were greater among regular users (consuming three times a week or more) than among people who did not drink it regularly. Again, the answer would be in polyphenols, which are not stored long-term in the body, so it would be necessary to ingest them for a long period to have cardioprotective effects. In this sense, in the analyzes carried out, it was estimated that habitual 50-year-old tea drinkers would develop coronary heart disease and strokes 1.41 years later and would live 1.26 years longer than those who never or rarely drank tea.
Compared to never- or non-regular tea drinkers, regular tea drinkers had a 20% lower risk of heart disease and stroke, a 22% lower risk of fatal heart disease and stroke, and a risk 15% less death from all causes.
The protective effects of regular tea consumption were more in men than in women . “One reason could be that 48% of men were regular tea drinkers compared to just 20% of women. Second, women had a much lower incidence and mortality from heart disease and accidents. These differences made it more likely to find statistically significant results among men, “said Wang.
The researchers highlighted the role of these trials in confirming the findings and including them in lifestyle recommendations and dietary guidelines.
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Referencia: Wang X, Liu F, Li J, et al. Tea consumption and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: The China-PAR project. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2019. doi:10.1177/2047487319894685.
