Beloved UK beverage could be saving your heart - but you need to drink lots of it

A beloved UK beverage which is deeply woven into British culture can have a positive impact on heart health, latest research has revealed. Scientists have long highlighted the health benefits of tea, particularly its effects on cardiac health.

Recent findings suggest that while drinking a few cups a day offers some protection, the most significant impact comes from consuming around ten cups daily-equivalent to approximately 1.2 litres. This level of tea intake has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease by 16 percent compared to those who do not drink tea at all. The research underscores the potential of tea as a powerful ally in cardiovascular health, especially when consumed in larger quantities

While drinking a couple of cups of tea daily does offer some heart health benefits, the effect is relatively modest, reducing the risk of heart disease by just 5 percent.

This insight comes from an analysis of 14 previous studies, which specifically highlighted the advantages of consuming unsweetened black tea.

The findings suggest that the protective properties are linked to the natural compounds in black tea, rather than added sugars or milk, reinforcing the idea that how you take your tea can influence its impact on your health, reports Mail Online.

The team of cardiologists at Nanying University in China said: "Our analysis demonstrates that black tea consumption was associated with a reduced heart disease risk. Our results support recommendations for black tea consumption to the primary prevention of heart disease."

The research has been published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases. The researcher, however, did not reveal whether drinking tea with milk had a benefit, the research included two UK studies where drinking milky tea is the norm.

According to the UK Tea and Infusions Association, people in the UK consume around 100 million cups of tea every day, highlighting its deep-rooted cultural significance.

A recent study involving nearly a million participants-958,477 to be exact-found that 16,990 of them developed heart disease, offering a substantial dataset for analysis.

While green tea has often been praised for its health benefits due to its high antioxidant levels and lower caffeine content, this new research adds weight to the argument that black tea also offers significant cardiovascular protection.

Despite these promising findings, scientists are still unsure about the exact mechanisms through which tea benefits heart health, leaving room for further exploration.