Regular Tea Intake May Benefit Cardiovascular Health

Drinking a cup or more of tea per day may reduce progression of coronary artery calcium and lower the risk of cardiovascular events, according to a new study.

Although coffee and tea are two of the most commonly consumed beverages, little data are available about their association with coronary artery calcium and major adverse cardiovascular events.
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To conduct their study, the researchers analyzed coffee and tea intake data from 6508 participants aged 44 to 84 years at 6 university health centers in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Consumption was classified as never, occasionally (<1 cup per day), or regular (≥1 cup per day). The researchers performed a Cox proportional hazards analyses to assess the association between intake and incident cardiovascular events.

About 53% of participants never drink tea, 30% occasionally drink tea, and 13% regularly drink tea. About 25% of participants never drink coffee, 24% occasionally drink coffee, and 51% regularly drink coffee.

After a median 5.3-year follow-up, regular tea drinkers had a slower progression of coronary artery calcium compared with never tea drinkers. Regular tea drinkers also had a significantly lower incidence of cardiovascular events after 11.1 years.

However, regular coffee intake had no effect on coronary artery calcium progression or cardiovascular events compared with no coffee intake.

“Moderate tea drinkers had slower progression of coronary artery calcium and reduced risk for cardiovascular events,” the researchers concluded. “Future research is needed to understand the potentially protective nature of moderate tea intake.”

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Miller PE, Zhao D, Frazier-Wood AC, et al. Associations between coffee, tea, and caffeine intake with coronary artery calcification and cardiovascular events [published online September 15, 2016]. Am J Med. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.08.038.