Tea drinking is considered beneficial for the heart and the risk of getting any heart disease is lessened by one-third.
According to Dutch researchers people who drink coffee or tea daily will have much lesser chance of developing any heart disease.
Yvonee Schouw who is the lead researcher mentioned that this was really good news for the thousands who liked coffee and tea, and these beverages were beneficial to the heart and did not pose a risk to any other part of the body either.
This study has prominently appeared in the famous medical journal, which is published by US heart association.
In this research 40,000 people who were healthy, were observed for a period of 13 years. The researchers found that people who consumed six to three tea cups daily, had 45% less chances of dying from heart disease, compared to those who consumed less than one cup in a day.
Exceeding six cups of tea or coffee did not result in further lowering the risk of heart disease. It was found that people who consumed in excess of six cups could lower the risk of heart disease by 36%. Also people who consumed between four to two cups, their risk were reduced by 20%. Adjustments were made for other factors of heart disease like exercise levels and smoking, and it was found that the effects still were same.
Consumption of tea or coffee did not in any way have any effect on the risk of getting cancer or stroke and dying from it.
This study excluded people who already had some kind of heart disease, and therefore the results should not be generalized for people who are under a high-risk of heart disease.
According to Schouw, people who are healthy need not worry about any harmful effects of tea and coffee drinking and they can expect some benefits as well.
This study is quite significant as it focused on black tea which is the most popular beverage in Netherlands, compared to earlier studies which focused only on advantages of green tea.
Professor of nutrition Rachel Johnson at the Vermont University has said that although green tea is usually perceived as a healthy beverage, black tea also will be similarly beneficial to the heart. This is quite a good piece of news for people who generally do not like green tea much.
Professor Johnson is also a spokesperson for US Heart Association.
US have recorded higher levels of consumption of black tea compared to drinking of green tea.
Johnson also points out that although in the studies, the level of consumption which was found beneficial may seem a bit high, but is not difficult to achieve.
She mentions that iced tea is a popular beverage in different locations in the country particularly during summer. You just need to be careful about the level of sugar you put, as the professor does not want the people to think that they can consume more beverages that are high on sugar.
Scientists are not certain as to why tea and also coffee (lesser in comparison), are able to provide protection to the heart. Most of the research up to now has focused on flavonoids which are a member of a group of plant chemicals called polyphenols. Studies conducted on other foods which contain flavonoids like dark berries, dark chocolate, red beans and red grapes, have all shown health benefits as they have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Ellen Mason from the Heart Foundation in Britain has stated that although moderate consumption of coffee and tea gives certain benefits to the heart, they will not take away the damage caused by a lifestyle which is unhealthy.
Ellen says that an overall healthy lifestyle is very important in keeping away heart disease symptoms. If you keep having a cigarette which a cup of coffee you are likely to spend heavily on heart disease treatments soon. Also if you just keep consuming a lot of tea without doing any exercise you are most likely to get heart diseases.
