Drinking tea can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes – healing practice

Drinking tea appears to protect against diabetes

Drink four or more cups black, green or oolong tea per day is associated with a reduced risk of developing, according to a large meta-analysis of 19 studies Type 2 diabetes bound together.

At the annual meeting of European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm (Sweden), the results of a large meta-analysis were presented. A Chinese task force analyzed data from 19 studies involving more than one million people.

Four cups of tea a day

The evaluation shows that the daily consumption of at least four cups of tea with an around 17 percent reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a ten-year period. It did not matter whether the subjects preferred black tea, green tea or oolong tea.

“Our findings are exciting because they suggest that by doing something as simple as drinking tea, people can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.”underlines the main author of the study Xiaoying Li from Wuhan University of Science and Technology in China.

tea is rich in various antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic ingredients. Drinking tea has been linked to beneficial health effects in numerous other studies. However, until now it was less known that tea could also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Heavy drinkers particularly benefit

Researchers point out that people who drink a lot of teabenefit from the reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. While drinking one to three cups of tea per day reduced the risk by only 1% per cup, drinking at least four cups of tea per day was associated with a 17% reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The association was independent of the type of tea and the sex and place of residence of the participants. The reduction in risk was mainly correlated with the Amount of tea consumed.

“Our results suggest that tea consumption reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, but only at high doses of at least four cups per day”summarizes Li.

Why does tea reduce the risk of diabetes?

“It is possible that certain components of tea, such as polyphenols, lower blood sugar levels, but sufficient levels of these bioactive compounds may be required to be effective.”supposes the scientist.

However, the researchers emphasize that this is an observational study. The link between tea consumption and risk reduction can therefore only be suggested. The underlying causes of the observed association should be investigated separately. (vb)