Blackmores Institute

The large trial of Chinese adults (n=100,902) over a follow up of just over seven years found 3683 atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events, 1477 deaths from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and 5479 all-cause deaths which, when compared with never or non-habitual tea drinkers, the hazard ration and 95 percent confidence interval among habitual tea drinkers was 0.80 (0.75-0.87),0.78 (0.69-0.88) and 0.85 (0.79-0.90), respectively.
 
 “Tea is one of the most popular beverages globally, especially in Asia. It has attracted great attention from both the public and researchers because of its potential benefits, especially for ASCVD. Epidemiology studies from other countries have related tea consumption to lower risks of CVD and all-cause mortality,” the authors explained.
 
 “Tea, especially green tea, is a rich source of flavonoids including mainly epicatechin, catechin, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), etc. Mechanism studies have revealed that these bioactive compounds could attenuate oxidative stress, relieve inflammation, enhance endothelial and cardiomyocyte function.”
 
 Aiming to systematically examine the associations between tea consumption and ASCVD morbidity and mortality, as well as all-cause mortality in over 100,000 Chinese adults from the project, Prediction for ASCVD Risk in China (China-PAR), the participants had their tea consumption over the past year assessed face-to face through questionnaires at baseline and at follow up visits. Habitual tea drinkers were required to choose from the most frequently consumed types of tea, including green tea, black tea and other types while non-Camellia sinensis teas were not included.
 
 “Using large prospective cohorts among general Chinese adults, we have provided novel evidence on the protective role of tea consumption on ASCVD events and all-cause mortality, especially among those who kept the habit all along. The current study indicates that tea might be a healthy beverage for primary prevention against ASCVD and premature death,” the authors said.
 
 “There was no study in China that assessed the effects of habitual tea consumption on different cardiovascular disease outcomes in the same population before. According to our results, habitual tea consumption is more protective against stroke than against coronary heart disease, especially for men.”
 
 The study noted there were differences between men and women in the associations with tea drinking attributing the difference to the two and half times higher proportion of men as habitual tea consumers than women.
 
 “In addition, women had much lower incidence and mortality of ASCVD, though this advantage would be lost after menopause. The differences made it more likely to find robust results among men, thus further studies amp in women with a higher proportion of tea consumption and detailed information on menstruation and hormonal changes might help to clarify these questions.
 
 “Our findings give a further insight into the beneficial role of tea consumption, and have great public health implications for guiding primary prevention among general Chinese adults,” the authors concluded.
 
 Source:
 Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2020. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2047487319894685">10.1177/2047487319894685</a>.

Coffee connoisseurs may need to swap their beans for leaves with new research finding habitual tea drinking is associated with reduced risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.

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