A study of nearly 500,000 men and women who took part in the UK Biobank found that compared to people who didn’t drink tea, those who drank two or more cups a day lowered their risk of dying by 9 percent to 13 percent.
It made no difference if they added milk and sugar to their tea, or also drank coffee. Participants in the study were ages 40 to 69, and 89 percent reported drinking black tea.
These results suggest that black tea can be part of a healthy diet. Although this study can’t prove that tea alone is responsible for extending your life, it does contain compounds that have been linked to reducing inflammation, said lead researcher Maki Inoue-Choi, a staff scientist in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
“Compounds such as polyphenols and flavonoids have the potential to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, and protect against cancer, cardiovascular disease and other health conditions,” she said.
Researchers also found that drinking tea reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease but didn’t appear to have the same benefit when it came to deaths from cancer or respiratory disease.