By Aria Bendix -
NBC News
There is growing evidence to suggest that drinking several cups of tea a day has numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and overall mortality.
The latest research on the subject, a review of 19 studies, will be presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes next week.
The results suggest that drinking at least four cups of black, green or Oolong tea daily reduces a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 17% over a decade.
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The research, conducted by a team from China, involved more than a million adults from eight countries.
The results indicate that there are fewer benefits associated with drinking fewer cups of tea.
The results showed that between one and three cups a day only reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 4%.
The risk of developing diabetes was reduced by 1% for each additional daily cup.
"Our results are exciting because they suggest that people can do something as simple as drinking four cups of tea a day to potentially reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes," Xiaying Li, a researcher at the University of Science and Technology, said in a statement. from Wuhan.
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A study published last month found that drinking two or more cups of black tea daily reduced the overall risk of death by 9% to 13% among UK residents over a 14-year period, relative to those without they drank tea
The study also revealed an association between drinking multiple cups of tea and a lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
"We think our findings will be very reassuring for people who already drink tea," said Dr. Maki Inoue-Choi, a scientist at the National Cancer Institute who led the research.
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Inoue-Choi said that even among people in her study who drank more than 10 cups a day, "we didn't see any negative effect on mortality risk."
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The health benefits of drinking tea may have to do with polyphenols, compounds found naturally in plants that provide antioxidants.
"These compounds may decrease inflammation and oxidative stress in the body, and in turn that may reduce the risk of developing certain health conditions such as heart disease," Inoue-Choi said.
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The dominant polyphenols in green tea, catechins, may be especially helpful in staving off disease by protecting cells from damage.
When green tea leaves are fermented to make black tea, the catechins are converted to theaflavins, another form of antioxidant.
A spoonful of lavender coconut rooibos tea at the Malaya Tea Room in Alameda, Calif., on Thursday, February 17, 2022. Aric Crabb / MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images
Inoue-Choi said this could explain why both green and black tea appear to confer health benefits.
It could also explain why people need to drink a lot of tea to see a significantly lower risk of illness or death.
In fact, the team from China found in another study of 5,200 adults that, regardless of the number of cups of tea consumed, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes was about the same for tea drinkers as for non-tea drinkers. that they were not.
In her study, Inoue-Choi said, she found that adding milk or sugar to tea didn't reduce the health benefits, but participants tended to use those ingredients sparingly.
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“Sweetened tea from the store has a lot more sugar.
We must follow dietary guidelines to avoid excess sugar and saturated fat,” she noted.
However, the Inoue-Choi study found no link between tea consumption and a lower risk of death from cancer.
Although some previous studies have suggested that drinking tea may lower the risk of prostate, lung, ovarian, or colorectal cancer, one study also found that drinking three cups of black tea a day was a significant risk factor for breast cancer.
Another study found that drinking very hot tea (above 149 degrees Fahrenheit or 65 degrees Celsius) was associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer.
"The results for cancer have been more mixed," says Inoue-Choi, adding that more research is needed.
"There have been more consistent results for heart disease or stroke," she added.
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For now, scientists are not offering any broad recommendations on the ideal amount of tea to drink.
"We would not advise people to change their tea intake based solely on this one study," Inoue-Choi said.