A recent study shows that tea has antioxidant properties that could reduce non-cardiovascular mortality by 24 per cent. Tea drinkers often have other positive and healthy habits that also support this conclusion, the study notes. A total of 131,401 people between the age of 18 and 95 participated in the study. Participants either did not consume any coffee or tea, consumed between one to four cups a day, or drank more than four cups a day.
Study results showed that those who drank coffee were at greater risk for cardiovascular diseases, especially those with a smoking habit. Those who drank coffee tended to smoke more often than those who did not, as only 17 per cent of coffee abstainers smoked. 45 per cent of those who did not drink coffee exercised regularly, compared to a 41 per cent of coffee drinkers. On the other hand, tea drinkers were more active, with 43 per cent of those who drank tea moderately exercising regularly versus 46 per cent of heavy tea drinkers. Heavy tea or coffee drinkers had a 4-5 mmHg higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and a 3 mmHg lower diastolic blood pressure (DBP).
“Overall we tend to have a higher risk profile for coffee drinkers and a lower risk profile for tea drinkers,” Professor Nick Danchin of the cardiology unit at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris told CTV News. “We also found big differences with gender. Men tend to drink coffee much more than women, while women tend to drink more tea than men.”
