Drinking coffee without regrets, who doesn’t wish for it. In the face of many opinions circulating that drinking coffee promotes cardiovascular diseases, strokes and other ailments, many a passionate coffee drinker may try to hold back for the sake of health. After a study recently revealed that coffee is good for the heart, Dutch scientists are now daring to take another step that clearly weakens the stubborn prejudice against the black hot drink. The results of their long-term study with more than 37,000 subjects, published in June 2010, show that moderate consumption of coffee, but especially tea, can lead to a significant reduction in the risk of heart disease.
Coffee protects For 13 years, the researchers from the University Medical Center in Utrecht have analyzed data on the tea and coffee consumption of the study participants and linked it to the incidence of heart disease and death in this group of people. The result of the tea drinkers was clearest. Those who drink between three and six cups of tea a day have a 45 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease than someone who drinks less than one cup of tea a day. With higher tea consumption (more than six cups a day), the risk is still reduced by 36 percent.
The study did not record the type of tea the subjects consumed. However, based on statistical values, it is assumed that 78 percent of Dutch tea drinkers prefer black tea and 4.6 percent consume green tea. This means that the results of the study can primarily be related to black tea drinkers.
The study also showed positive results for coffee drinkers: two to four cups of coffee a day reduce the risk by 20 percent. The effect is therefore not as strong as with tea drinkers, but is still clearly present. The researchers also state that heavy tea and coffee consumption does not increase the risk of stroke, as is often assumed. No corresponding correlations could be established.
The scientists can only guess why the positive effects are weaker for coffee drinkers than for tea drinkers. It is possible that heavy coffee drinkers are generally more careless with their health, smoke more often and eat less healthily. They had higher cholesterol and blood sugar levels than the tea drinkers in the study. Nevertheless, coffee and tea drinkers can rejoice. The good effects on health cannot be denied and will perhaps calm down one or the other heavy coffee drinker a little…
