Tea and coffee may offer more than just a caffeine kick in the morning

SO YOU’VE reached for that first mug of something hot in the morning. Uppermost in your mind is unlikely to be the health benefits – or otherwise – of your beverage of choice.

And while sipping a gunpowder Earl Grey or a cheeky chilli rooibos, tea drinkers might like to take the healthy high ground, the latest research indicates that coffee is fast catching up.

This week researchers into Parkinson’s disease revealed that just two cups of coffee could help control the tremors associated with the condition. Earlier research suggested two or three cups a day meant coffee drinkers were 25 per cent less likely to develop Parkinson’s, and it could also significantly protect against Alzheimer’s. Add claims that it can reduce the risk of liver disease and protect against type 2 diabetes and that Starbucks habit is looking like it should be provided on the NHS.

But what of its links to, among other things, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels? What is the truth about tea and coffee? And could news that tea is likely to reach its highest price in two years following bad weather in Kenya and Sri Lanka mean that our once national drink is relegated to minority status?

THE CASE FOR TEA

“Tea comes from a plant which contains polyphenols, compounds that supposedly have heart and antioxidant benefits,” says Dr Carrie Ruxton, a nutritionist who represents the Tea Advisory Panel. “What the polyphenols seem to be doing is relaxing your blood vessels, reducing blood pressure. They also have an antioxidant  effect, so they stop cholesterol from becoming harmful and clogging up your arteries.”

Research among older tea drinkers has also found they keep their mental faculties longer than those who don’t drink tea. “It’s thought the polyphenols are having a protective effect on the brain,” says Ruxton. “Another new area of research is into the antibacterial qualities of tea. MRSA is carried in your nose, and a study found tea drinkers were half as likely to have MRSA in their nose and throat compared with those who didn’t drink tea.

“I have also seen it work against helicobacter, which causes stomach ulcers and stomach cancers.”

You can have too much of a good thing though. “Up to a certain amount, caffeine is a huge benefit, go beyond that and you start to get detriment.” That amount is 400mg a day – about eight cups, after which you’re “likely to experience an increase in anxiety, and if you drink it late at night you might have trouble sleeping”, says Ruxton.

And those who are iron deficient or vegetarian should drink tea between meals rather than with them because polyphenols can interfere with iron absorption.

Surprisingly, however, whether you drink a builders’ brew or milky baby tea, there’s little difference in terms of caffeine content. “The caffeine in tea comes out in the first 30 seconds,” says Ruxton, “you’re still going to have about 40-50mg. The longer you brew it, the more polyphenols you get.”

The benefits, she adds, come from black tea, green tea and oolong tea, all of which come from the same plant – camellia sinensis. As for herbal teas? “They are not really teas, they’re  infusions,” says Ruxton. “And there isn’t much evidence to any specific health benefits.”

www.tea.co.uk

THE CASE FOR COFFEE

“Coffee is the most commonly ingested pharmacologically active substance in the world,” says Dr  Sarah Jarvis, a GP speaking on behalf of the British Coffee Association. “There are constant scare stories: does it increase your risk of heart disease, does it increase your risk of other things? Well, for the majority of people, coffee in moderation – that’s up to 450mg a day, four to five cups – is perfectly safe.”

The evidence for benefits points  to increased awareness and it may reduce the risk of developing dementia. “A study looking at about 7,000 people in 2007 suggested it might reduce cognitive decline in women without dementia,” says Jarvis.

Large population-based studies showed coffee was associated with a significantly lower risk of developing diabetes, she argues.

“And in terms of alertness, there is absolutely no question that it is beneficial,” she says.

As for negatives, she points to a recent story suggesting coffee was connected to  high levels of cholesterol. “This seems to relate only to boiled coffee, which is drunk in Scandinavia and is almost unknown in the UK; it doesn’t seem to apply to other forms of coffee.

“With respect to blood pressure,” she adds, “if you have never had coffee and drink it for the first time, it may have an impact on your blood pressure. However, for regular coffee drinkers consuming moderate amounts, there does not seem to be any impact on your blood pressure long term.”

Taking anything to excess, of course, can carry a risk. So, for  the record, the average cup of instant coffee has about 75mg of  caffeine and a cup of brewed,  100mg. “With super extra-large triple espressos you may well be talking about 200mg”, says Jarvis. “Even then, for most people apart from pregnant women, where the limits are 200mg per day, 450mg is absolutely safe.”

She concludes, “I’m not saying if you want to improve your health, drink coffee, but the vast majority are not going to do themselves any harm from drinking tea or coffee, and some evidence suggests moderate intake might actually have health benefits.”