tea anyone? [was: Discouraged!}

[Guest guest]

Speaking of tea... It only took one half-cup a day!

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/91/101106.htm

Tea Drinkers Reap Blood Pressure Benefits

Drinking a Half-Cup of Tea per Day Cuts Hypertension Risk in Half

By Warner

Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD

on Monday, July 26, 2004

July 26, 2004 -- Drinking as little as a half-cup of green or oolong

tea per day may lower the risk of high blood pressure by nearly 50%,

according to a new study of Chinese tea drinkers.

Researchers found that men and women who drank tea on a daily basis

for at least a year were much less likely to develop hypertension

than those who didn't, and the more tea they drank, the bigger the

benefits.

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Water is

first.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the most common form of

heart disease and affects about 20% of the adult population in many

countries. The condition is associated with stroke, heart failure,

and kidney dysfunction and is a major risk factor for heart-related

death.

" A link between tea drinking and blood pressure reduction has been

postulated for decades in general health care in Chinese

populations, " write researcher Yi-Ching Yan, MD, MPH, of the medical

college of National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and colleagues.

In recent years, researchers say there has been growing interest in

exploring the role of antioxidant compounds called flavonoids found

in tea that may protect against heart disease.

But researchers say few studies have examined the long-term effects

of tea drinking on the risk of hypertension, and the results so far

have been conflicting. They say this study is the first on the issue

to use a large number of people and detailed information about tea

consumption and other lifestyle and dietary factors associated with

hypertension risk.

Drinking Tea Lowers Blood Pressure

In the study, which appears in the July 26 issue of The Archives of

Internal Medicine, researchers looked at the effect of tea drinking

over the past decades on the risk of developing high blood pressure

in 1,507 Chinese men and women living in Taiwan who had no previous

history of high blood pressure.

Because the size of the teacup used varies widely in Chinese

culture, the participants were asked to provide details about what

kind of cup was used, how the tea was prepared, the amount drank,

and the frequency per week in order to calculate the average tea

consumption per day.

Researchers also collected information about the kind of tea (green,

black, or oolong) drank and how long the participants had been tea

drinkers. Green, oolong, and black teas are derived from the same

plant. It is the processing of the leaves from the Camellia sinensis

that determines the type of tea and the flavonoid content.

The study showed that about 40% of the participants were habitual

tea drinkers and had been drinking at least a half-cup of tea per

day for one or more years. More than 96% of tea drinkers drank green

or oolong tea.

The tea drinkers tended to be younger, mostly men, and had higher

educational and socioeconomic status than non-tea drinkers. But they

also were more obese, smoked more, drank more alcohol, ate fewer

vegetables, and had a higher sodium intake than those who didn't

drink tea regularly.

After taking these and other factors associated with heart disease

and high blood pressure risk into account, researchers found tea

drinkers were much less likely to develop high blood pressure than

non-tea drinkers.

Those who drank at least a half-cup of moderate strength green or

oolong tea per day for a year had a 46% lower risk of developing

hypertension than those who didn't drink tea. Among those who drank

more than two and a half cups of tea per day, the risk of high blood

pressure was reduced by 65%.

" Nonhabitual tea drinkers were at higher risk of developing

hypertension than habitual tea drinkers, and there was a progressive

reduction in risk associated with higher levels of tea consumption

in daily intake, " write the researchers. " However, tea consumption

for more than one year was not associated with a further reduction

of hypertension risk. "

Based on the results of their study, researchers say the minimum tea

consumption needed to provide blood pressure-reducing benefits

appears to be a half-cup per day of green or oolong tea for at least

one year.

They say further long-term studies are needed to confirm these

results and better understand the mechanisms behind tea's blood

pressure-lowering effects.

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SOURCE: Yang, Y. The Archives of Internal Medicine, July 26, 2004;

vol 164 : pp 1534-1540

--- In , " Rodney " <perspect1111@y...>

wrote:

> lots-of-tea recently,