Study: Drinking tea may reduce risk of type 2 diabetes
A study of more than 1 million people in eight countries found that moderate consumption of black, green or oolong tea reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes. (EASD) annual meeting in Stockholm, Sweden (September 19-23), suggests that drinking at least four cups of tea per day is associated with a 17% lower risk of T2D over an average 10-year period.
“Our findings are interesting because they suggest that people can do something as simple as drinking four cups of tea a day to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes,” said lead author Xiaying Li, from Wuhan University of Science and Technology in China. can reduce the risk of
Although it has long been known that regular tea consumption may be beneficial for health because tea contains various antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic compounds, the relationship between tea consumption and the risk of T2D is less clear. Is. So far, published cohort studies and meta-analyses have reported conflicting results.
To address this uncertainty, researchers conducted a cohort study and dose-response meta-analysis to better define the association between tea consumption and future T2DM risk. mean age 42) from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), who were recruited in 1997 and followed until 2009.
The CHNS is a multicenter prospective study that looks at the economics, social problems, and health of residents of nine provinces. At baseline, participants filled out food frequency questionnaires and provided information on lifestyle factors such as regular exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Overall, 2,379 (46%) participants reported drinking tea, and by the end of the study, 522 (10%) participants had developed T2D.
After adjusting for factors associated with an increased risk of T2D, such as age, sex, and physical inactivity, the researchers found that tea drinkers had a similar risk of developing T2D compared to non-drinkers. And the results did not change significantly when analyzed by age and sex, or when participants who developed diabetes during the first 3 years of follow-up were excluded.
In the next phase of the study, the researchers conducted a systematic review of all cohort studies investigating tea consumption and risk of T2D in adults (aged 18 years and older) through September 2021. [1] were included in a dose-response meta-analysis.
They examined the potential effects of different types of tea (green tea, oolong tea, and black tea), frequency of tea drinking (less than 1 cup/day, 1–3 cups/day, and 4 or more cups/day). explored. Gender (male and female), and study location (Europe and America, or Asia), on the risk of T2D. Overall, the meta-analysis found a linear association between tea consumption and T2D risk with each cup of tea. Daily consumption reduces the risk of developing T2D by about 1%. Compared to adults who did not drink tea, those who drank 1-3 cups per day had a 4% reduced risk of T2D, while those who drank at least 4 cups had a reduced risk of T2D. Each day reduced their risk by 17 percent. The associations were observed regardless of whether the participants drank tea, whether they were male or female, or where they lived, suggesting that it may be the amount of tea consumed, rather than any other factor. , which plays an important role.
“Although more research is needed to determine the exact dosage and mechanism behind these observations, our results suggest that drinking tea may be beneficial in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, but only in large amounts (one cup a day I at least 4 cups). “It’s possible that certain components in tea, such as polyphenols, can lower blood glucose levels, but large amounts of these bioactive compounds may be needed to be effective,” says Lee. may explain why we didn’t. Our combined study looked for a link between tea drinking and type 2 diabetes because we didn’t look at high tea consumption.”
Oolong tea is a traditional Chinese tea made from the same plant used to make green and black tea. The difference is how the tea is processed – green tea is not allowed to oxidize much, black tea is allowed to oxidize until it turns black, and oolong tea is partially oxidized. but is not oxidized.
Despite the important findings, the authors note that this study is observational and cannot prove that drinking tea reduced the risk of T2D, but suggests that it is likely to contribute. The amount of tea consumed and they cannot rule out the possibility that residual confounding by other lifestyle and physiological factors may have affected the results.