Hi, my name is Iga, and I am an addict. I am addicted to tea. I love green tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea, and herbal tea. There is not a tea out there that I have tried that I did not like. I probably drink anywhere between four to six cups of tea a day. So, whenever I see new research around tea, I’m always so excited to see what these magical cups of plant love can do for our bodies. And boy, is the one I’m sharing with you today a good one! So go brew yourself a nice cup and let’s get into it.
Our society is full of products that promise to keep you looking and feeling younger. There are books and workshops around improving our lifestyles to keep us living longer. Well, there is some good news for my fellow tea drinkers! A new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology discusses research done at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences that observed the effects of tea on participants’ health. It was found that habitual tea drinkers actually lived longer than non-habitual tea drinkers!
For a little over seven years, researchers at the Academy observed nearly 101,000 participants that had varying levels of tea consumption. Two groups emerged, habitual and non-habitual tea drinkers. Habitual tea drinkers consumed tea three or more times a week, while non-habitual drinkers had tea less than three times a week over the span of the seven years. The study was led to find the effects of tea consumption on cardiovascular health and overall lifespan. At the completion of the study, it was found that the regular tea drinkers did, in fact, see an improvement in health over their counterparts. The regular tea drinkers lived about 1.26 years longer than non-drinkers. They also lived 1.41 more years without any cardiovascular health issues than their peers.
The researchers also contributed these results significantly to the type of tea that was being consumed. The majority (49%) of the habitual tea drinkers preferred green tea as their choice of tea. Green tea is rich in polyphenols, a naturally occurring micronutrient in plants packed with antioxidants. Polyphenols lower cholesterol and blood pressure and improve artery function and lifespan. There’s no wonder that the habitual tea drinkers saw such improvements despite the researchers also noticing that the more habitual tea drinkers in the study also, although unrelated, seemed to smoke and drink alcohol more.
Green tea has many other benefits as well. Recently, everyone has been talking about tea’s metabolism-boosting powers. It also relieves inflammation, improves brain function, helps even out skin tone, slows down cancer growth, and slows down aging. And that’s just green tea! There are benefits to all types of tea, and we haven’t even talked about all of the different kinds of herbal teas out there.
If you don’t like green tea, don’t worry! There is a tea out there for everyone. However, I’m sure you’re thinking, “Iga, come on, 1.26 years isn’t even that long of a time.” I get it, I mean elephants are pregnant for longer than that! But it’s not just about the tea. There isn’t a cure-all in the natural world, and there isn’t going to be. Life is about making healthy choices while still enjoying it. And all of those healthy choices are going to add up and when each choice gives you another 1.26 years you’re going to be a happy old person very soon. So go make another cup of tea, you know I already did!
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Photo by Massimo Rinaldi on Unsplash
