Are your days planned around pill taking?
As we get older, far too many of ours are. But there’s one new “prescription” I’m willing to bet you won’t mind filling even one little bit. And when you do, you could slash your risk of a heart event—such as a heart attack, stroke or angina—by 29 percent!1
It turns out simply drinking a cup or more of tea a day could cause your risk for a heart event to plummet, according to new research published in the American Journal of Medicine.
Tea drinkers have healthier arteries
When researchers analyzed diet data from a group of 6,500 heart-healthy folks between the ages of 44 and 84, the link emerged. More than half of the study volunteers never drank tea, while just a bit under 30 percent drank less than a cup a day, and almost 13 percent were tea fans who drank at least one cup daily.
The tea drinkers had significantly less calcium buildup in their arteries, an early sign of heart disease. And the folks who drank one or more cups a day also showed less progression of coronary artery calcium
According to experts, if your coronary artery calcium levels are low you have much less chance of suffering any kind of heart event. In other words, picking up a tea habit could potentially ward off angina, a heart attack or stroke.
Tea drinking could reduce heart disease risk
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen tea shine when it comes to heart health, of course. Green tea in particular has been linked to healthier arteries. In another recent animal study, the beverage was found to protect against aneurysms, reducing inflammation and warding off artery rupture.2
A 2012 study found that both black and green teas could reduce heart disease and stroke risk between 10 and 20 percent.3 And, according to a huge study out of the Netherlands that tracked over 37,000 folks for 13 years, people who drank three to six cups of tea a day were 45 percent less likely to die from heart disease, than those who drank less than a cup.4
So if you’re a tea drinker, keep up the good work. If you’re not, you might want to pick up the habit.
References:
1. “Associations between coffee, tea, and caffeine intake with coronary artery calcification and cardiovascular events,” Am J Med 2016
2. “Prevention of abdominal aortic aneurysm progression by oral administration of green tea polyphenol in a rat model,” Journal of Vascular Surgery, Available online 26 July 2016
3. “Effects of tea and coffee on cardiovascular disease risk,” Food Funct. 2012;3(6):575-591
4. “Tea and Coffee Consumption and Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality,” Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, August 2010, Volume 30, Issue 8
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