According to a new study of over a million adults, drinking lots of tea may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Daily black, green, or oolong tea consumption lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 17%.
A meta-analysis of 19 cohort studies found that moderate consumption of black, green, or Oolong tea may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to the results of a systematic review and analysis.
Studying how tea consumption impacts on diabetes risk has been found to be advantageous. This new research found that people who consumed at least four cups of tea daily had a 17% lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes over a decade-long period. The study was presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes’s Annual Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden from September 19-23.
According to Wuhan University of Science and Technology researcher Xiaying Li, consuming four cups of tea daily may help lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
There is significant evidence that tea contains antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic compounds that may benefit health. However, the association between tea drinking and the risk of T2D has been unclear. Although cohort studies and meta-analyses have reported inconsistent findings, the literature to date suggests that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that tea drinking is associated with a lower risk of T2D.
In order to better define the relationship between tea consumption and future risk of T2D, investigators performed a cohort study and a dose-response meta-analysis.
Make Lemon and Cinnamon Tea.
Those who drank 1-3 cups of tea daily reduced their risk of T2D by 4%, compared to those who didn’t drink tea. In addition, those who drank at least 4 cups daily reduced their risk by 17%.
In order to investigate factors associated with the development and recurrence of T2D, researchers at the China Health and Nutrition Survey studied 5,199 adults (2583 men, 2616 women) with an average age of 42 between 1997 and 2009, using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. The China Health and Nutrition Survey is a multicentre prospective study that examines the economy, social issues, and health of the people of nine provinces.
A food and drink frequency questionnaire was given to participants at the outset. They also answered questions about their lifestyle, including whether they exercised regularly, smoked, and consumed alcohol. Of the 2,379 participants, 46% consumed tea. At the end of the study, 522 (10%) participants had proven to have T2D.
After controlling for factors that are known to be linked with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, tea drinkers had a similar risk of developing the disease as non-drinkers. The results did not change significantly when analyzed by age and sex, or when participants who developed diabetes during the first three years of follow-up were excluded.
In order to investigate the associations between tea drinking and the risk of type 2 diabetes, the scientists carried out a comprehensive literature search up to September 2021. In the subsequent step of the investigation, they evaluated all cohort studies that had examined the link between tea consumption and the risk of diabetes. In total, 19 studies involving 1.1 million participants were included in the dose-response meta-analysis.
They examined the relationship between tea consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes in three separate studies: a Chinese population living in the United States, Chinese populations living in Asia, and European populations. They also examined the relationship between tea consumption and the location of the study, sex, and the number of cups consumed per day.
The meta-analysis found that daily tea consumption reduced T2D risk by about 1% per cup.
Those who consumed 1 to 3 cups of tea daily reduced their risk of T2D by 4%, compared with those who didn’t drink tea. Plus, those who consumed at least 4 cups daily reduced their risk of T2D by 17% as compared with those who didn’t.
Even when participants had different amounts of tea to drink, the associations between tea consumption and various health outcomes were similar in males and females and in countries with high and low tea consumption. This suggests that tea may be responsible for the associations, rather than some other factor.
“Our findings indicate that drinking tea may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, but the amount and mechanisms behind our observations are still unknown.”
“It is possible that certain components in tea, such as polyphenols, may lower blood glucose levels, but a sufficient amount of these compounds would need to be consumed to be effective. Alternatively, this may explain why we didn’t find an association between tea consumption and type 2 diabetes in our cohort study, as we did not investigate higher quantities of tea.”
The same plant used to make green and black teas is used to make oolong teas. Oolong teas are created by processing tea green tea can’t oxidise much, black tea can oxidise until it turns black, and oolong tea is partially oxidised.
The authors acknowledge that this research is observational and cannot prove that drinking tea is the cause of a lower risk of T2D, but it does seem likely.
The researchers acknowledge that the quantity of tea consumed may not be the only variable affecting the results and that other physiological and lifestyle factors may also be involved.
The research was funded by the Young Talents Project of Hubei Provincial Health Commission, China; Science and Technology Research Key Project of Education Department of Hubei Province, China; Sanuo Diabetes Charity Foundation, China; and Xiangyang Science and Technology Plan Project, China.
