How to live longer: The hot drink shown to slash ‘cardiovascular disease mortality’

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The drink in question is not coffee, now the nation’s favourite drink, but tea. The research, published in the journal the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that two or more cups of tea a day is associated with a reduced risk of mortality.

Furthermore, the results suggested this was regardless of whether or not the tea contained milk or sugar and did not change depending on the temperature of the tea in question.

The researchers came to their conclusions after analysis of data from the UK Biobank. Of those in the system, around 85 percent of the 500,000 participants between the ages of 40 to 69 said they drank tea regularly.

Said study of tea was conducted over a four-year period from 2006 to 2010 with participants followed up over the succeeding 10 years. It was from this following up period that the conclusions were drawn as the impact of tea drinking habits was seen.

Speaking about the research Professor Rodriguez Artalejo said: “This article shows that regular consumption of black tea (the most widely consumed tea in Europe) is associated with a modest reduction in total and, especially, cardiovascular disease mortality over 10 years in a middle-aged, mostly white, adult general population.”

Professor Artalejo added: “Studies should be done with repeated measurements of tea consumption over time and compare the mortality of those who do not consume tea on a sustained basis with that of those who have started to consume tea or have increased their consumption over time, and those who have been drinking tea for years.”

Professor Artalejo also said that the research represented “a substantial advance in the field” and that this study stood out as it was one of the few to study the impact of black on Europeans rather than green tea on other populations.

The professor of preventive medicine and public health added that existing studies outside of the Asian continent were “small in size and inconclusive in their results”; however, this study differs in providing more conclusive answers.

Are there any caveats to the study?

Yes, as with all studies there are limitations. In the case of this study, it is the fact that it is an observational rather than a causational study. This means that it can only observe a link between two entities rather than say that one causes the other, in this case that tea definitively reduces the risk of mortality.

This was a caveat highlighted by Professor Artalejo who said that the study did not definitively establish that tea was the cause of reduced mortality and that other factors could play a role.

Why does tea help someone to live longer?

Tea has long been known to have benefits for overall health, and multiple studies have shown this. In the past the drink, currently the UK’s second favourite after coffee, has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic conditions such as heart disease and dementia.

The reason for its ability to reduce the risk of the latter has been put down to its impact on the former. By improving cardiovascular health, more oxygen can flow to the brain and improve neurological function.

Furthermore, tea has also been found to help improve brain function, mental well-being, reduce the risk of premature brain ageing, and improve brain function.

What other factors can influence how long someone lives for?

Tea forms one part of a gamut of influences on someone’s longevity. There are a range of factors which can influence lifespan length, tea consumption forms part of one, diet. The other main pillar is exercise.

Exercise and diet form the two main pillars of a longer life. Exercise is essential to burn off any excess visceral fat and to take advantage of a balanced diet low in salt and fat.

What is the world’s biggest killer globally?

Worldwide, the world’s most significant killer is heart and circulatory disease, the umbrella of diseases affecting the circulatory system.

The most common form of heart disease is coronary heart disease (CHD) which occurs when a build-up of fatty substances occurs in the coronary arteries.

Symptoms of the condition include:
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Pain throughout the body
• Feeling faint
• Feeling sick.

While serious invasive actions are required if the condition isn’t treated efficiently, CHD can be treated effectively with lifestyle changes in its early phases.

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