Drinking tea lowers the risk of death due to coronary heart disease by 45%

  Tea drinkers were found to have a lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease (CHD) over a 13 year period in a new study. Researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands evaluated data from 37,514 participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-NL) cohort of healthy Dutch men and women. Dietary questionnaires completed upon enrollment provided information on the frequency of intake of coffee and tea. Subjects were followed for an average of 13 years, during which time any cardiovascular events or deaths were documented.

     Over the follow-up period, 563 cases of stroke and 1,387 coronary heart disease events occurred. Moderate intake of coffee (2.1 to 3 cups per day) was more protective than low or high amounts against coronary heart disease events. Participants who consumed over 6 cups of tea per day had a 36 percent lower adjusted risk of heart disease compared to those whose intake was less than a cup.

     Of 1,405 deaths from any cause, 70 were due to stroke and 123 to coronary heart disease. While drinking coffee insignificantly reduced the risk of coronary heart disease mortality, for those who consumed between 3 and 6 cups of tea per day, there was a 45 percent lower risk of dying of the disease. “High tea consumption is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease mortality,” the authors conclude. The study is reported in the August, 2010 issue of the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.