A new study from China published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology demonstrated that people who drink green tea at least three times a week have lower risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death.
Study included 100,902 participants followed up for ~7.3 years, who had no history of heart attack, stroke, or cancer and were classified to two groups: habitual tea drinkers (≥ 3 times a week) or never/non-habitual tea drinkers (< 3 times a week).
Results showed that compared with never/non-habitual tea drinkers, habitual consumers had:
20% lower risk of incident heart disease or stroke
22% lower risk of fatal heart disease or stroke
15% decreased risk of all-cause death
When they analyzed a subset of 14,081 participants to see the influence of changes in tea drinking behavior (comparing those who remained non-drinkers vs. those who changed to habitual drinkers vs. those who remained habitual drinkers), habitual tea drinkers who maintained their habit had:
39% lower risk of incident heart disease or stroke
56% lower risk of fatal heart disease or stroke
29% decreased risk of all-cause death
Results were more pronounced for men over women.
What is the explanation for the effect?
Tea, especially green tea, is a rich source of flavonoids including mainly epicatechin, catechin, EGCG and others. Mechanism studies have revealed that these bioactive compounds could reduce oxidative stress and inflammation and improve endothelial-dependent relaxation in the aorta and cardiac function.
This adds to multiple studies that have demonstrated that drinking regularly green tea may prevent liver disease, cancer, dementia and supports treatment of diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension, migraine headaches and menopausal symptoms including hot flashes.
Bottom line: Drink green tea (and avoid Green Tea extract tablets)
Reference:
Wang X. et al. European Journal of PreventiveCardiology 2020 DOI: 10.1177/2047487319894685