A daily cup of tea may be associated with more than just a welcome break. New research involving almost half a million adults has found a link between regular tea consumption and a lower risk of vascular disease. But the findings also suggest that how tea is prepared and consumed could matter.
Published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, the study followed 485,934 adults in China for an average of just over nine years. During this period, researchers recorded 14,863 new cases of vascular disease, including conditions affecting the heart, brain and arteries.
People who regularly drank tea had an 11% lower risk of developing these conditions compared with those who did not drink tea habitually. The findings offer further insight into the potential relationship between everyday dietary habits and long-term cardiovascular health.
How much tea is associated with lower risk?
The researchers found that the relationship between tea consumption and vascular health varied according to how much participants drank.
Among regular tea drinkers, the lowest estimated risk was associated with consuming approximately six to eight cups a day. However, this should not be interpreted as a recommended daily intake. The study was observational, meaning it identified associations between drinking habits and health outcomes but could not establish that tea itself was responsible for the lower risk.
The type of tea aso appeared to make a difference. Black tea showed more consistent associations with reduced vascular disease risk than green tea, while moderate-strength tea was associated with a lower risk than weaker or stronger varieties.
Both black and green tea come from the Camellia sinensis plant, but they undergo different processing methods, which influence their chemical composition. Tea also contains naturally occurring polyphenols, including flavonoids, which have attracted scientific interest for their potential antioxidant and vascular effects.
However, the study did not establish whether these compounds explain the differences observed between tea varieties.
The surprising finding: does temperature matter?
One of the more unexpected findings concerned the temperature at which tea was consumed.
While habitual tea drinking was generally associated with a lower risk of vascular disease, drinking tea described by participants as ‘burning hot’ was associated with a higher risk.
The researchers did not establish a specific temperature at which tea might become harmful, nor did the study prove that very hot tea directly causes vascular disease. Nevertheless, the finding adds another dimension to research into the relationship between beverage consumption and health.
It also highlights the importance of considering drinking habits as a whole, rather than focusing solely on the amount or type of tea consumed.
Lifestyle remains an important part of the picture
The study also examined tea consumption alongside smoking and physical activity.
The lowest vascular disease risk was observed in people who habitually drank tea, did not currently smoke and were highly physically active. This reinforces the importance of considering broader lifestyle patterns when exploring factors associated with cardiovascular health.
Physical activity and avoiding smoking are already well-established elements of cardiovascular health. The findings suggest that regular tea consumption may also be associated with a more favourable risk profile, although further research is needed to understand the relationship.
What does the research tell us?
The scale and duration of this study provide valuable data on tea-drinking habits and vascular health. However, as with all observational research, it is important to distinguish between an association and a proven cause-and-effect relationship.
The findings do not demonstrate that drinking tea will prevent heart disease, nor that people should increase their daily intake to six or eight cups. Other lifestyle, dietary and health factors may also have influenced the results.
What the research does offer is another insight into the complex relationship between diet and cardiovascular health. It also highlights why large population studies remain important: they can identify patterns and generate questions for further investigation, helping researchers build a more complete picture of the factors that influence long-term health.
For now, the familiar advice remains relevant: a balanced diet, regular physical activity and avoiding smoking are important foundations for cardiovascular health. And if you enjoy a cup of tea, there may be another reason to let it cool a little before drinking.
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