Research presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona last week indicates drinking tea reduces non-cardiovascular mortality by 24%.
Professor Nicholas Danchin, who conducted the research, told Medical Net that a study of 131,000 people means “If you have to choose between tea or coffee it's probably better to drink tea. Coffee and tea are important components of our way of life. Their effects on cardiovascular (CV) health have been investigated in the past with sometimes divergent results. We investigated the effects of coffee and tea on CV mortality and non-CV mortality in a large French population at low risk of cardiovascular diseases."
Researchers tracked the medical history of all those who had a health check at the Paris IPC Preventative Medicine Center between January 2001 and December 2008. Participants ranged from 18 to 95 years of age.
There were 95 deaths attributed to heart failure during the 3.5 year study and 632 deaths from non-cardiovascular causes. Coffee or tea consumption was assessed by a self-administered questionnaire as one of three classes: none, 1 to 4, or more than 4 cups per day.
The researchers found that coffee drinkers had a higher CV risk profile than non-drinkers, particularly for smoking, reports Medical Net.
Tea drinkers had the reverse profile of coffee drinkers, with consumers having a better CV risk profile than non-consumers. One-third (34%) of the non-drinkers of tea were current smokers compared to 24% of those who drank 1-4 cups per day and 29% of those who drank more than 4 cups. Physical activity increased with the number of cups of tea per day from 43% in the moderate tea drinkers to 46% in the heavy drinkers, according to the Medical Net report.
Non-coffee drinkers were more physically active, with 45% having a good level of physical activity compared to 41% of the heavy coffee drinkers. Professor Danchin said: "This is highly significant in our large population."
Source: Medical Net
Professor Nicholas Danchin, who conducted the research, told Medical Net that a study of 131,000 people means “If you have to choose between tea or coffee it's probably better to drink tea. Coffee and tea are important components of our way of life. Their effects on cardiovascular (CV) health have been investigated in the past with sometimes divergent results. We investigated the effects of coffee and tea on CV mortality and non-CV mortality in a large French population at low risk of cardiovascular diseases."
Researchers tracked the medical history of all those who had a health check at the Paris IPC Preventative Medicine Center between January 2001 and December 2008. Participants ranged from 18 to 95 years of age.
There were 95 deaths attributed to heart failure during the 3.5 year study and 632 deaths from non-cardiovascular causes. Coffee or tea consumption was assessed by a self-administered questionnaire as one of three classes: none, 1 to 4, or more than 4 cups per day.
The researchers found that coffee drinkers had a higher CV risk profile than non-drinkers, particularly for smoking, reports Medical Net.
Tea drinkers had the reverse profile of coffee drinkers, with consumers having a better CV risk profile than non-consumers. One-third (34%) of the non-drinkers of tea were current smokers compared to 24% of those who drank 1-4 cups per day and 29% of those who drank more than 4 cups. Physical activity increased with the number of cups of tea per day from 43% in the moderate tea drinkers to 46% in the heavy drinkers, according to the Medical Net report.
Non-coffee drinkers were more physically active, with 45% having a good level of physical activity compared to 41% of the heavy coffee drinkers. Professor Danchin said: "This is highly significant in our large population."
Source: Medical Net