Drinking tea regularly could improve heart health, reduce risk of heart disease and stroke

People could potentially improve their heart health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by simply drinking tea every day, a new study shows. Scientists discovered that regular consumption of tea can help avoid arterial stiffness in the heart, which has been linked to a shorter lifespan and higher risk of heart disease.

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, found that those who have been drinking more than 10 grams of tea every day for six years or more have the lowest cases of arterial wall thickening and loss of elasticity. The findings come from the analysis of the effects of tea on habitual and non-habitual drinkers in China.

Arterial stiffness is the condition that involves arterial wall thickening and loss of elasticity in both structural and cellular elements of the heart. Researchers said this condition has been considered a predictor of mortality and potential cardiovascular disease like heart failure and stroke.

The findings come from the analysis of health of 5,006 male and female tea drinkers aged 40 to 75 in the Fujian Province in China. The research team, composed of medical doctors, said 31.2 percent of the participants claimed they were habitual drinkers, consuming tea once or more per week for at least 12 months.

The participants were divided into four groups based on the period they have been drinking tea. The groups include those who have been drinking tea regularly for more than 10 years, those drinking for six to 10 years, one to five years and non-habitual drinkers.

The researchers then examined the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) of the participants to see the arterial stiffness in the aorta and peripheral artery of their heart. Considering lifestyle factors, the researchers discovered that the duration and daily amount of habitual tea consumption have an effect on the heart.

An increase in the duration of consumption and amount of tea decreased the average ba-PWV, which means lower arterial stiffness and a healthier heart. The researchers said the chemicals called catechins, a flavonoid abundantly present in tea, might have delivered the benefits.

"Flavonoids in tea are helpful to relax the blood vessels," Stephen Devries, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern University, told Quartz. "Catechins release nitrous oxide and cause [arteries] to be more compliant."

The findings also support previous studies showing the positive effects of tea on the human body. A study in 2007 by researchers in the US discovered that catechins could improve cardiac structure within two hours.

A study in 2013 also found that regular consumption of tea could decrease the risk of stroke, while another study in 2014 by Taiwanese researchers concluded that a cup of tea each day for a year or more could potentially reduce arterial stiffness.

Regarding the benefits of regular tea consumption, an analysis of 24 studies involving almost 857,000 individuals, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology in 2015, also found that regular tea consumption could help reduce risk of coronary heart disease, cardiac death, stroke, cerebral infarction, intracerebral haemorrhage as well as total mortality.

“There's still a whole lot we don't know about how different types of flavonoids in the things we eat and drink are affecting our health, but research is showing that a cup of tea or two per week is a pretty good bet if you want to do something healthy for your heart,” ScienceAlert reports.