Drinking just one cup of black tea everyday might protect against cardiovascular disease, a new research has found.
According to the study conducted at University of L'Aquila in Italy and supported by the Lipton Institute of Tea, black tea consumption improves blood vessel reactivity and reduces blood pressure and arterial stiffness, indicating a notably better cardiovascular health profile.
Using a group of 19 healthy men (mean age 33), the researchers assigned the participants to one of five prescribed intakes of the tea over five periods lasting one week each.
The caffeine level of each dose was standardised but the dose of tea flavonoids was controlled at the levels of 0 (the control dose), 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg per day.
A standard cup of black tea contains approximately 100-200 mg of flavonoids, depending on the individual preference of tea making.
During the course of the research, participants avoided naturally flavonoid-rich food and drinks like red wine and chocolate to ensure that the results become a true reflection of flavonoid-rich black tea consumption only.
Professor Claudio Ferri, the principle investigator and one of the lead researchers, said, "Our study demonstrates that commercially available black tea can affect vascular function in normal individuals.
"We clearly demonstrated that vascular function improvement exerted by black tea starts with one cup per day and further improves by increasing the number of daily cups of tea," Ferri said.
"We observed that black tea consumption lowered blood pressure and reduced arterial rigidity, thereby improving the elastic capacity of the blood vessels."
"Protection of vascular properties, starting with drinking a single cup of regular black tea suggests that it can exert cardiovascular benefits in common tea drinkers."
Dr Paul Quinlan, Research Director at Lipton Institute of Tea, added, "In recent years, a growing volume of scientific research has pointed to there being significant mental and physical health benefits to be gained from regular tea consumption.
Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world after water and is a major source of dietary flavonoid intake in Western countries and the Middle and Far East.
