Just the cup of tea to keep your heart healthy

Published on Saturday 5 September 2009 19:54

JUST one simple cuppa a day – or glass of juice – can drastically reduce the risk of heart disease, scientists have discovered.

A study in Glasgow and France found that both green and black tea, as well as raspberry, strawberry and bilberry juices, helped prevent fatty deposits building up in arteries.

If the findings are confirmed by other studies, the results could offer a simple way for people to reduce their risk of heart disease.

The new study, published in the journal Food Chemistry, tested the drinks on hamsters who were fed a high-fat diet over 12 weeks.

Hamsters develop fatty streaks in the walls of their arteries – a sign of heart disease – in a similar way to humans.

One group of hamsters was only given the high-fat diet, while another group had the diet plus one of the drinks.

The amount the animals were given was equivalent to a human eating 120g of raspberries or drinking a glass of juice or mug of tea a day.

The researchers found that in hamsters given the drinks there was a "remarkable" reduction in fatty build-ups of up to 96 per cent.

Professor Alan Crozier, from the University of Glasgow, who carried out the study with colleagues at the University of Montpellier, said their findings could help people who wanted to improve their heart health.

But he said it was not a green light for people to eat unhealthily and cancel out the effects with a glass of juice.

"The hamsters were on a high-fat diet and you get signs of heart disease with the fatty streaks in the arteries after 12 weeks," he said.

"One group was given just a high-fat diet and none of the juices and the teas. The results showed that in this group more than 20 per cent of the artery wall was covered with fatty streaks.

"If you feed them the high-fat diet and a juice or tea, then there is a reduction in the fatty deposits, particularly so with the raspberry juice and green tea. But the others were very effective as well."

While the control group saw 20 per cent of the artery wall affected by fatty build-up, the hamsters given the juice or tea had less than five per cent.

It is thought the protective effect comes from plant-derived chemicals known as phenolic compounds and flavonoids found in the drinks.

Prof Crozier said that their findings had implications for humans.

"The amount they were given is about the equivalent to a human having a glass of fruit juice or a mug of tea a day… the dose is not massive. It is a nutritionally relevant dose," he said.

The juices used in the study were from the Bouvrage range made by Ella Drinks, based in Alloa. The teas were made with Tetley teabags bought from a supermarket.

Prof Crozier said the juices were slightly more expensive than other similar drinks, but had a higher concentration of berries.

There is doubt over whether adding milk to tea would mean it retained its protective effect.

Prof Crozier said:

"There's a possibility that the milk may interfere with the protective effect.

"But all the studies that have been done to suggest milk does have this effect are short-term, acute studies."

Prof Crozier warned people not to believe that a tea or juice was enough to cancel out the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Asked his advice, he said: "Have a good diet, of which a tea or a fruit juice is part, and this could lessen your chances of developing heart disease."

Anne Thomson, managing director of Ella Drinks, welcomed the findings.

She said that the UK lagged behind other countries in terms of consumption of berries.

"I have been shouting for years about the health benefits of berries and particularly that they are realised in the juice," she said.

"Often there is the assumption that when you processed or separated the juice from the pulp there may be damage to the healthy compounds that are in the juice.

"We do the processing extremely gently at low temperature and fast."

June Davison, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said the study added to evidence that having a regular intake of fruit and vegetables could help to reduce the risk of heart disease.

"Everyone should try to have at least five portions of fruit or vegetables a day. Berries count as a portion, as does fruit juice made from berries," she said.

"This research is also good news for people who enjoy a regular cuppa because it also showed that consumption of black tea and green tea was associated with a lower incidence of fatty deposits in the arteries.

"However, more research is needed before we can say conclusively that people would benefit from drinking tea in order to reduce their risk of heart disease."