Research Shows Drinking Tea Reduces the Risk of Heart Attacks - 4/1/1999
A recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology indicates that the risk of heart attacks in people who drank one, or more, cups of tea a day was about half that of those who drank no tea.
Researchers from Boston who carried out the study looked at the tea and coffee drinking patterns of 340 men and women who had previously had heart attacks and compared them with a group of healthy people. The researchers suggested that the benefits of drinking tea may be attributed to the high concentration of flavonoids in tea which reduce blood clotting and the deposition of cholesterol in the blood vessels.
Several other research studies have also provided evidence about tea’s positive effect on heart disease: A Scandinavian study of men aged between 50-69 showed that drinking 4-5 cups of tea a day reduced the risk of stroke by 69% and other studies have indicated that drinking 4-5 cups of tea a day may also have a beneficial effect on high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Notes:
Flavonoids, a group of compounds in plant foods with antioxidant effects, that may help to slow down atherosclerosis (a deposition of cholesterol leading to a narrowing of the blood vessels and restriction of blood flow).
New Research May Explain Why Drinking Tea is Good For Your Heart - 11/15/2000
New Orleans: New research presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association shows that drinking tea makes the blood vessels of patients with heart disease function better within two hours, and the effects are maintained after four weeks. Blood vessel dysfunction is associated with heart disease.
Researchers from Massachusetts investigated the effects of drinking four cups of black tea a day for four weeks on 50 men and women with known heart disease. Using ultrasound to measure blood flow in the forearm, the investigators found that tea helped blood vessel function by dilating the arteries and improving blood flow. While blood vessels normally dilate 11 per cent, those with heart disease only dilated 6 per cent. Tea drinking was found to restore blood vessel response to near-normal levels.
Presenting the results in New Orleans, investigator Dr Joseph Vita of Boston University said, "The effects were visible as soon as (within) two hours of drinking the first cup, and the effects persisted after the four weeks." He stated, "This study demonstrates that drinking tea reverses an important abnormality of blood vessel function in patients with coronary heart disease."
In seeking to explain these significant findings, Dr Vita clarified that the effects were not due to the caffeine found in tea since blood vessel function was unchanged in a control group of participants who took a caffeine tablet equivalent to two cups of tea. Instead Dr Vita pointed to the possibility that the results were due to the high levels of antioxidants found in black tea.
Commenting on this new research, Dr Simon Maxwell, a Clinical Pharmacologist from Edinburgh University said, "It has long been thought that tea might have a beneficial effect on the heart’s function but this new research is particularly important since it suggests a mechanism for action. This exciting study offers further information about the role that dietary flavonoids may play in reducing the risk of circulatory diseases."
This new research may partly explain the association between tea drinking and decreased cardiovascular events.
Dentists Agree That Drinking Tea Is Good For Your Teeth - July 2000
A survey conducted amongst delegates at Dentistry 2000 by the Tea Council shows that a staggering 97% of dentists know that tea is a natural source of fluoride and almost 84% agree that their tea-drinking patients gain oral health benefits from the brew.
Tea is tooth-friendly and studies show that an increase of just one cup per day may prove invaluable in the fight against tooth decay. Scientists in Japan carried out clinical trials using a tannin fluoride preparation on gingival inflammation around abutment teeth, and results showed a reduction of plaque build-up on teeth. Yet, less than 50% of the dentists surveyed at Dentistry 2000 knew that drinking tea can actually help combat the build-up of plaque, despite knowing that it contained fluoride.
Further research indicates that tea can help to prevent tooth decay by enhancing the action of saliva, inhibiting acid production from plaque and so reducing the attack on tooth enamel. When taken with milk, tea is also a good source of calcium and contains small amounts of vitamin B2 and B6, manganese, potassium and zinc.
The high sugar content of many children’s favorite drinks and the acidic nature of many sports drinks are of particular concern to the dental profession. At a British Dental Association (BDA) sports nutrition conference last year, dentists expressed their concern that sports drinks may increase the risk of dental disease for athletes. A survey carried out by the Tea Council at the conference revealed that over 60% of dentists agree that compared to fruit juice, mineral water and many sports drinks, tea has many oral health benefits and 50% of them said that they recommend tea for effective fluid replacement after exercise.
As well as being good for teeth, tea also contains antioxidant flavonoids which have been shown to help protect against lung, colon, digestive, breast and prostate cancer and substantially reduce the risk of heart attack in people who drink one or more cups of tea compared to those who drink no tea.
New Research Shows that Tea May protect against pancreatic and prostate cancer - 1/26/2000
The results of recent preliminary research published in Nutrition and Cancer indicate that tea may protect against the development of pancreatic and prostate cancer.
Researchers from the National Center for Toxicological Research, USA, extracted theaflavins and polyphenols – substances found in tea, and demonstrated that they significantly inhibited the growth of human pancreatic and prostate tumor cells. Their research also indicated that tea could have a role to play in changing the genes involved in the process of causing cancer.
"This study provides further evidence concerning the anti-cancer properties of tea consumption. These new results are very preliminary, but if confirmed in other studies, they could provide an important new insight into the prevention of pancreatic and prostate cancer," Professor David Forman, Center for Cancer Research, University of Leeds.
In previous studies, tea has also been shown to help protect against lung, colon, digestive and breast cancers and there is significant evidence that tea can reduce the risk of a heart attack in people who drink one or more cups a day compared to those who drink no tea.
The benefits of drinking tea may be attributed to the high concentration of antioxidants, which help the body fight harmful free radicals. Free radicals are a form of oxygen that can damage our bodies, including our cells. If not neutralized into ‘good oxygen,’ free radicals can advance aging, work against the immune system and play a major role in the development of chronic and degenerative diseases.
