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Study coffee and tea are good for the heart

Study: Coffee and tea are good for the heart.

(19.06.2010) This study could make coffee and tea drinkers happy. Regular, moderate consumption of coffee and tea reduces the risk of heart disease and thus protects the cardiovascular system. At any rate, this is the result of a newly presented Dutch long-term study. Tea should be even healthier than coffee. But that has other causes than the choice of beverage.

According to a scientific study by the University Medical Center in Utrecht, the regular use of coffee and tea protects the cardiovascular system. A total of 37514 Dutch people between the ages of 20 and 69 participated in the long-term study. During the study 1387 subjects died. The study lasted a total of 13 years. During the study, regular surveys were conducted on the consumption of coffee and tea. These results were used to compare the data on cardiac diseases and causes of death. Participants were divided into 6 groups according to consumption behavior. The frequency of drinking coffee and tea was measured. Depending on how much coffee the study participants drank, this was divided into a group. The first group was attended by people who drank less than a cup, and in the second group were the participants who drank at least one cup of coffee or tea. In the other groups came the study participants who drank two, three or more cups a day. The study included other risk factors that could promote heart disease such as heart attack.

Amazing were the results now presented. Study participants who drank three to six cups of tea a day were able to reduce the risk of heart disease by 45 percent compared to the "few drinkers". However, when study participants drank more than six cups of tea a day, the reduced risk was only 36 percent over the control group, who drank only one cup of tea a day. Anyone who drank two to four cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of heart disease by 20 percent.

Most participants in the study on tea consumption drank black tea (about three quarters). According to research, there is no restriction on daily tea drinking in terms of heart disease. Tea can be enjoyed to the fullest, according to the study director. Also with the coffee good health results could be achieved. However, the effect on tea is significantly lower and it has been observed that coffee drinkers are more likely to suffer from heart disease than tea drinkers. However, this is not due to coffee itself, as the scientists report. Rather, it is the lifestyle of coffee drinkers, as they would apparently pay less attention to their health. For example, smokers often drink coffee instead of tea. Coffee drinkers also seem to pay less attention to a healthy diet and to do less sports. These health risk factors inevitably increase the likelihood of heart disease.

But why is it that coffee and tea have such a positive effect on the health of the cardiovascular system? It is above all the antioxidants that are present that act as an antioxidant. Antioxidants protect the body's own cell nuclei and cell membranes. Antioxidants are by far not just found in coffee or tea. It has been proven that natural antioxidants can also be found in foods such as garlic, blueberries, cabbage, broccoli, licorice, ginger and brown rice. These natural substances not only protect the heart but also prevent cancer. Antioxidants capture free radicals and also strengthen the body's immune system. So-called "free radicals" are u.a. the cause of the aging process of humans.

The widespread belief that coffee causes heart arrhythmias has now been refuted by a US long-term study. However, the assumption that coffee makes people happy was also refuted. It would be more of a habituation effect of the body.

For research director Yvonne van der Schouw, this proves that the consumption of tea or coffee has a positive effect on the body. “While previous studies have shown that coffee and tea consumption appears to reduce the risk of heart disease, there has been no conclusive evidence of an impact on the risk of stroke or the risk of fatal heart disease”, so van der Schouw. This study has now proven the positive effect on the heart. (Sb)