Drinking green tea reduces the risk of dying from some diseases
Recent studies in Japan show that drinking green tea can significantly reduce the risk of dying from a group of diseases.
Researchers surveyed the medical records of more than 40,000 people and found that green tea reduced the risk of dying from heart disease by more than 25 percent, according to the American Medical Association.
However, some cardiologists in the UK say that these benefits may be due to the Japanese diet as a whole, because the foods that people in this country are accustomed to eating are healthier than those common in the West.
Apart from water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world and three billion kilograms of tea are produced every year in the world.
Laboratory and animal studies have shown that green tea in particular has many health benefits compared to dark tea.
Statistics show that about 80% of Japanese people drink green tea, so more than half of them consume three cups or more a day.
An eleven-year study of green tea nutrition and drinking among the Japanese found that the rate of all-cause deaths was 16 percent lower for those who drank five or more cups of green tea a day than for those who drank one or less cups.
A 7-year study of specific causes of death also found that the risk of dying from heart disease was 26 percent lower for those who drank five or more cups of green tea.
The researchers also found that the benefits of green tea were apparently greater for women.
Women who drank five or more cups of green tea a day had a 31 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who drank one or less cups.