A Quantitative Review shows that Tea drinking reduces the risk of developing Parkinsons disease

Researchers at the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cordoba in Spain evaluated the risk of developing Parkinsons disease (PD) and any protective associated with tea consumption. They reviewed all observational studies that evaluated the association between PD risk and tea consumption. 12 studies were identified: 11 case-controlled studies and 1 cohort. These studies were carried out between 1981 and 2003. The studies represented different populations from 3 continents; North America, Europe and Asia. The 3 studies from Asia were case-control studies of Chinese populations.

There was a clear protective effect of tea consumption in the pooled risk estimate with 2215 cases and 145578 controls; decreasing the risk by about 17%. Tea consumers versus non-consumers in Chinese populations had pooled 27% reduced risk. The study is published in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.