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Cup of tea cuts heart attack risk
Substances called flavonoids found to be powerful
preventive
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
July 8, 1999 — Drinking at least one cup of tea
a day could cut the risk of heart attack by almost half, a new study shows. The brew
contains natural compounds called flavonoids that can neutralize harmful chemicals that
damage cells — leading to heart attacks, stroke and cancer.
FLAVONOIDS are one of the most powerful
antioxidants, or substances that offset the damaging effects of oxygen in the body.
Scientists have recently become excited about the potential benefits of the chemicals,
which also are abundant in onions, apples and red wine.
While earlier studies
have suggested that tea-drinking could be good for the heart, the latest findings are the
most comprehensive and indicate the most dramatic effect.
"This is, in my
view, quite an astonishing outcome," said Dr. Catherine Rice-Evans, an antioxidant
researcher at King’s College, London, who was not connected with the study.
"These are very exciting results."
The study involved
regular tea from black tea leaves, as opposed to green or herbal teas. Scientists say
black tea contains more powerful flavonoids than green tea.
The work by Dr.
Michael Gaziano, a heart specialist at the Harvard Medical School-affiliated Brigham and
Women’s Hospital in Boston, was presented at a Royal Society of Medicine conference
in London. The research, which was funded by the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute, is also published in The American Journal of Epidemiology.
Foods that
fight disease
The study examined
340 men and women who had suffered heart attacks and matched them by age, sex and
neighborhood with people who had never had heart attacks. It then investigated their
coffee- and tea-drinking habits over the course of a year.
The study was
adjusted for factors that could have skewed the results, such as smoking, exercise,
alcohol intake and family history of heart trouble. Total calories consumed, intake of
fatty foods and body mass index — which compares the girth of people of different
heights to determine obesity — was about the same in both groups.
Overall, those who
had a cup or more of tea a day had a 44 percent reduction in heart attack risk compared to
non-tea drinkers, the study found. The study did not compare the benefits of one cup
versus two, three or four.
And coffee had no
effect on heart attacks, regardless of whether it was decaffeinated.
Other studies have
shown that adding milk, sugar or lemon to the tea does not diminish the effect of the
flavonoids. There also is no difference between drinking it hot or cold, or preparing it
with loose tea leaves, tea bags or granulated crystals, according to Dr. Paul Quinlan, a
biochemist who heads the Brook Bond tea company’s health research unit.
Quinlan said cells
take about 10,000 hits from free radicals from sunlight, radiation, pollution, smoking and
inflammation each day. So they more protection they can get from that damage the better.
"Tea is a very
powerful source of flavonoids," he said. "(They) prevent that damage from
leading to heart disease, cancer and from blood clotting."
According to research
presented at the meeting, two cups of tea have antioxidant activity equivalent to four
apples, five onions, seven oranges or two glasses of red wine.
The Associated Press
and Reuters contributed to this report.
      Copyright © 1998 Tealand.
All rights reserved.
Revised:
May 11, 2008.
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