Coffee, Tea Reduce Heart Disease Death

High tea consumption was associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in a recent study (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010 Jun 18). Researchers from the University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands, also found a slight risk reduction for CHD mortality with moderate coffee consumption.

Coffee and tea consumption were assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire, and 37,514 participants were observed for 13 years for the occurrence of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Tea was inversely associated with CHD mortality, and subjects who drank 6 cups per day had the lowest risk for heart trouble.

Although not significant, researchers found those who drank 2.1 to 3 cups of coffee per day had the lowest risk for CHD mortality. Those who drank more or less had an increased risk.

Neither coffee nor tea was associated with stroke and all-cause mortality.