Drinking tea and coffee in moderation can reduce the risk of heart disease

According to a study published by Dutch researchers in the Journal of the American Heart Association: arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, people who like coffee and tea do not need to worry about the possible adverse effects of indulging in the habit, because regular or moderate tea and moderate coffee can reduce the risk of heart disease.

Four major findings of Dutch researchers:

1. Compared with people who drank less than one cup of tea a day, people who drank more than six cups of tea a day had a 36% lower risk of heart disease.

two。 Compared with people who drank less than one cup of tea a day, people who drank three to six cups of tea a day had a 45% lower risk of death from heart disease.

3. People who drink less than two or more cups of coffee a day have a 20% lower risk of heart disease than those who drink less than two or more cups of coffee a day.

4. Although the effect is not obvious, drinking a moderate amount of coffee can also slightly reduce the risk of death from heart disease and any other disease.

In addition, the researchers found that neither coffee nor tea was associated with stroke risk. "previous studies have found that both coffee and tea seem to reduce the risk of heart disease," said the lead author of the study, Dr. Yvonne van der Scuu, professor of chronic epidemiology at Julius Health Science and Primary Care Center at the University of Utrecht Medical Center in the Netherlands. But no conclusive evidence was found on the risk of stroke and death from heart disease. Our findings show that drinking coffee and tea is good for your health without increasing the risk of stroke or death associated with any disease. "

Van der Scuu and his colleagues assessed the coffee and tea intake of 37514 participants through a questionnaire, while tracking participants' cardiovascular disease and eventual death for 13 years. The limitations of the study are that coffee and tea intake are self-reported by participants and lack of information about the specific types of tea selected by participants. In the Netherlands, black tea accounts for 78 per cent of total tea consumption, while green tea accounts for only 4.6 per cent.

The researchers point out that people who drink coffee and tea have very different healthy habits. Compared with tea drinkers, many coffee drinkers also smoke and have an unhealthy diet. The researchers say the cardiovascular health benefits of drinking tea seem to be explained by antioxidants. Flavonoids in tea can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, but how to do so remains a mystery.