Black tea may not match the health benefits associated with green tea and SA's own rooibos — or black coffee — but a new study shows that drinking two or more cups every day, even with milk and sugar, could prolong the lives of its adherents compared with those who drink no black tea.
Black tea drinkers had a 9% to 13% reduced risk of death over an average follow-up of 11 years, the researchers from the National Cancer Institute in the US, found.
In the UK black tea is a popular beverage, so men and women from the UK Biobank, 40 to 69 years old, completed a questionnaire on their tea-drinking habits for this study. Nearly 90% reported drinking black tea, 85% of them regularly.
The researchers found a link to lower mortality from all cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease and stroke, but not respiratory disease or cancer deaths.
This was an observational study of nearly half a million British tea drinkers and their self-reported habits, however, not a scientific trial designed to prove cause and effect.
The scientists did adjust for individuals’ health risk factors, including smoking, diet, age and gender, in analysing the results.
In SA, rooibos tea — which is not a stimulant and could include health benefits such as improved bone health and heart health with its high levels of antioxidants — is taking off, with a reported 350 commercial and 100 emerging rooibos farmers developing this tea unique to SA.
Overall the country's tea industry operates in demanding conditions, affected by fluctuating international tea prices, high production costs, competition from imports and labour challenges, according to tea researcher Taurai Khumalo.
The Ntingwe tea estate in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, is one of the big estates in the province, where he did a case study.
In China and Japan, where green-tea drinking is most common, it is associated with health benefits including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
“In contrast, published studies in populations where black tea drinking is more common are limited with inconsistent findings,” said the scientists leading this study.
Among the elements the team assessed were whether the tea temperature, favourite additives (milk and sugar) and people’s metabolisms (affecting the speed they metabolise caffeine) affected the potential health benefits of black tea. Tea strength and portion size were not assessed.
The findings were similar irrespective of “whether participants also drank coffee or not or of genetic score for caffeine metabolism”.
“Tea, even at higher levels of intake, can be part of a healthy diet,” the researchers suggested in the Annals of Internal Medicine, where the peer-reviewed paper was published.
Perhaps the daily tea-drinking rituals of the UK’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, are why she is still flourishing at age 96?
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