Sipping tea could have surprising health benefits - but few are drinking enough
We all love a cuppa, and it turns out the delicious brew could be good for our health.
In the UK, we get through a staggering 100 million cups of tea a day, and it's become something of a cultural symbol of our nation. But the brew doesn't just taste nice, it could have some health benefits too, with experts claiming it can have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, heart health, risk of stroke and type 2 diabetes. There is a catch, however - we have to drink more of it to get the full benefits.
According to a new study, specific compounds called flavan-3-ols are responsible for these health benefits. But to hit the right level of flavonoids in our diet, we need to be drinking more than 20 cups of tea every week.
The research, authored by the Tea Advisory Panel, was found in a new review of a scientific study published in Nutrition and Food Technology and suggests that flavonoids - compounds found in many plants, fruits, veggies, and leaves - could reduce the risk of developing chronic disease by as much as a fifth (19%) and reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 13%.
But to consume the amount of flavonoids needed to see the health benefits in action, there's a mammoth amount of tea that needs to be drunk. Tea and flavonoid expert, Dr Tim Bond, one of the study's co-authors says: "The evidence for the health benefits of consuming tea flavonoids is great news, especially to a nation of tea lovers.
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"But worrying data from YouGov shows that fewer than a fifth (17%) of Brits are hitting the optimal tea target of more than 20 cups a week, which we need to drink to reach the ideal flavonoid intakes. For the sake of our health, perhaps it's time to add a target for flavonoids to the usual dietary guidelines for vitamins, minerals, protein, fibre and fat."
Dietitian and TAP member Dr Carrie Ruxton added that flavonoids in tea can have anti-diabetic effects, and anti-inflammatory effects, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, prevent muscle loss, and treat respiratory tract infections.
In another study, it was claimed people need to consume 400-600mg of flavonoids every day to improve cardiometabolic health. These compounds can be found in fruit such as apples, pears, and raspberries, but they're much more prevalent in tea. Brewed black tea contains 115mg of flavonoids per 100g, while green tea contains 54mg per 100g. By comparison, apples only contain 9.3mg and raspberries have just 5.8mg.
This means we need to be drinking around four cups of brewed black tea every day to make it over the 400mg mark. In summary, Dr Carrie Ruxton notes: "If we want to ensure we're getting the benefits of flavonoids in our diet, popping the kettle on for a cuppa is a refreshingly easy way to up our intake levels. To get the most benefits from the bioactive substances such as flavonoids found in our daily brew, we need to be drinking four cups of tea a day."
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