True Brew: Drink Tea for Your Health
(Page 3 of 4)
December/January 2000
By Marguerite Lamb
It has yet to be shown that tea actually lowers cholesterol in people, notes Vinson. But recent studies examining the link between the consumption of tea and heart health are intriguing. A 1998 Harvard University study found that just one or two cups of black tea a day may reduce the risk of heart attack by 44%.
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Similarly, Dutch researchers who tracked 3,454 people over 55 found that those who drank one to two cups of tea daily had a 46% lower risk of developing severe aortic atherosclerosis than nonconsumers, while people who drank four or more cups daily reduced their risk by 69%.
The next step, says Vinson, needs to be a long-term tea study involving people at risk for heart disease. "We're still waiting for this last link in the puzzle," he says. "But I think drinking tea will prove to be preventive for heart disease in the long run."
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Black and green tea catechins have also been shown to block the formation or slow the growth of tumors in laboratory animals. "Tea has proven remarkably successful at decreasing carcinogenesis in animal studies," notes Blumberg, who calls the results "consistent, compelling and strong."
But what, finally, do the results tell us? "Tea is an excellent drink for rats," quips Blumberg, who admits that animal studies don't always extrapolate to humans the way researchers would hope. Still, he says, the animal studies do give scientists good reason to look seriously at tea as a possible cancer preventative or therapy. "And so far," he acknowledges, "the human data is provocative."
