Drink tea more than 3 times a week

Cost

A few dozen to a few hundred CNY a year. Brewing a cup takes a few minutes and costs you almost no time.

What you get

A Chinese study of 100,900 (10.09万) people (China-PAR), half of whom were followed for the full 7.3 years. People who drank tea regularly had about 15% lower risk of death (hazard ratio 0.85, 95% CI 0.79–0.90, the plausible range). Counting from age 50: people who drank tea regularly had 1.41 more years without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and 1.26 more years of life expectancy

Notes

The dispute is that these studies only followed people, and among Chinese men who drink tea, the share who smoke and drink is high. The authors removed some of these effects, but not all. Also, don't drink it scalding hot; for the temperature of hot drinks see the item in this section about drink temperature. Some people worry about mycotoxins in tea leaves. In China, 158 samples of dark tea were tested, and aflatoxin was found in 2; at the amounts people drink, the intake was below the internationally accepted value. Another study tested 352 samples of tea for 16 mycotoxins, and only ochratoxin A in dark tea exceeded the limit on average. At the amounts Chinese people drink, neither study calculated a dietary risk. Store tea in a dry place, and don't drink tea that has gotten damp and moldy. Green tea extract capsules are different: a large dose of concentrated catechins swallowed at once can harm the liver, and brewed tea doesn't have this problem. So this item covers only brewed tea; don't substitute an extract supplement

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. Wang X, Liu F, Li J, et al. (2020). Tea consumption and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: The China-PAR project. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 27(18), 1956-1963. https://doi.org/10.1177/2047487319894685
2. 茶叶霉菌毒素：Cui P 等 (2020). Quantitative analysis and dietary risk assessment of aflatoxins in Chinese post-fermented dark tea. Food and Chemical Toxicology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2020.111830
3. Zhou H 等 (2022). Mycotoxins in Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze): Contamination and Dietary Exposure Profiling in the Chinese Population. Toxins. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins14070452
4. 绿茶提取物与肝损伤：Hu J 等 (2018). The safety of green tea and green tea extract consumption in adults - Results of a systematic review. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2018.03.019

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 2, tip 25. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer