Health

People who drink tea regularly 'may live for an extra year'


Drinking green tea three times a week could make you live longer and cut your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, a study has found.

Antioxidants in the drink could help to protect the heart and keep people healthier for longer.

Researchers studied more than 100,000 people in China and found regular drinkers lived, on average, 1.26 years longer than people who didn’t drink tea.

They also tended to develop serious conditions such as heart disease 1.4 years later than the non-drinkers.

No significant benefits were observed for black tea drinkers, with scientists saying green tea was the only kind that had an effect. 

Experts say the study is not strong enough for people to switch to green tea in the hope of better health, and drinking tea would not undo other unhealthy habits.

The study did not look exclusively at green tea but the majority of people in the study drank that and the researchers did not see the same health benefits for people who drank black tea, which is popular in England (stock image)

The study did not look exclusively at green tea but the majority of people in the study drank that and the researchers did not see the same health benefits for people who drank black tea, which is popular in England (stock image)

A study by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing monitored the health of 100,902 people who had never had a cancer, heart attack or stroke.

They tracked their health for around seven years and recorded how often they drank tea.

Regular drinkers were those who consumed tea three or more times or week – any less and people were considered non-drinkers.

The study did not look specifically at green tea, but only eight per cent of people in the experiment drank black tea and that had no significant health benefits, it said.

GREEN TEA ‘COULD BOOST MEMORY AND IMPROVE BRAIN HEALTH’

A diet with compounds found in green tea and carrots reversed Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in mice, a study published in March last year suggested.

Researchers said that, after the diet, mice genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer’s had their memory and spatial skills restored and could find their way out of a maze just as well as healthy mice.

The team, from the University of Southern California, noted that it’s possible the discoveries made in the rodents may not be able to be replicated in humans. 

However, they add that the findings could lead to plant-based supplements being used in combination with drugs to prevent or slow down dementia symptoms.   

For the study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the team studied two compounds, the first being epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is found in high quantities in green tea.

EGCG is an antioxidant that prevents free radicals from forming in the body, thereby protecting against cell and molecule damage.

Previous studies have shown that EGCG protects newly-developed nerve cells, which helps with cognition and alertness. 

The second compound, ferulic acid (FA), is found in foods such as carrots, oats and tomatoes.  

FA is an antioxidant that is best-known for its benefits when it comes to skin, such as treating sun damage, fine lines and wrinkles. 

The team split the mice with Alzheimer’s into four groups and added the same number of healthy mice to each group.

They were given one of four diets: both EGCG and FA, just EGCG, just FA, or a placebo.

The mice underwent several neuropsychological tests – which measures areas such as problem solving, memory, and visual-spatial skills – both before and after the diet. 

The researchers noted one test, which is maze in the shape of a Y and tests if the mice can find their way out it.

Following the three months, the mice who were on the combination diet performed just as well as the healthy mice did. 

Green tea, meanwhile, cut the risk of having heart disease or a stroke, and of dying of either of those conditions, by around 25 per cent.

In the study overall, tea drinkers had a 39 per cent lower risk of either condition over eight years, a 56 per cent lower risk of dying from one of them, and a 29 per cent lower chance of dying during the study.

‘Habitual tea consumption is associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and all-cause death,’ said Dr Xinyan Wang, the author of the study.  

‘The favourable health effects are the most robust for green tea and for long-term habitual tea drinkers.’ 

Dr Wang and colleagues said one reason tea could improve people’s health was that it contains polyphenols, a category of around 500 chemicals which contain antioxidants.

Polyphenols are found naturally in fruits and vegetables and are thought to be able to stop or repair cell damage, control sugar levels in the body and slow weight gain.

The Chinese researchers said past evidence has suggested polyphenols can protect against heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Green tea may be particularly beneficial because it is not fermented like black tea, a process which might make the antioxidants less effective.  

Jodie Relf, a dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, said: ‘The researchers do not mention how the tea is consumed or in what form – in China green tea is often consumed as a loose tea and not in tea bag form as it is in more westernised cultures; this may change the health enhancing properties of the tea.

‘In China drinking tea is not only about quenching thirst or staying hydrated.  

‘The act of drinking tea involves taking time out of your day to brew the tea and drink it whilst taking time to slow down and bring calmness and serenity to your day. 

‘This time of calm alongside the health promoting properties of the tea may be what improves their health by reducing stress levels.’

The researchers said the health benefits may also be dependent on regular drinking to top up polyphenol levels, and sticking to teas without any milk added to them. 

The positive effects appeared to be stronger among men, but Dr Wang and her colleagues said this could just be because there was less data for women.

Ms Relf added: ‘It’s been thought for years that drinking tea can have a positive impact on our health, however, there is currently not enough evidence to support exactly what compounds in tea elicit these health benefits and exactly what these benefits are. 

‘What we need to be mindful of is that drinking tea alone is not going to improve our health, it is merely another tool to add to our belts. 

‘We cannot continue to eat high fat foods, live a sedentary lifestyle and expect tea to solve all our problems.’

The research was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.



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