Is It True That Black Tea Can Drasticly Lower Cholesterol?

Illustration of black tea. (Freepic)

JAKARTA - Nothing is more delicious than a cup of warm tea in the morning. Now science proves this simple habit can also bring great benefits to heart health.

A recent study found drinking tea regularly can help lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and type 2 diabetes.

"The benefits of tea for heart health have been known for a long time, and recent scientific research further strengthens the evidence of how good tea is for the heart," said Dr. Bond team, a tea researcher from the Tea Advisory Panel, quoted from the Mirror.co.uk page.

He explained the results of research published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition highlight the high content of polyphenols in tea, namely natural compounds that play a major role in maintaining heart health.

"This study emphasizes the real benefits of drinking tea every day to keep the heart in shape," he added.

Dr. Bond explains certain polyphenolic compounds called flavan-3-ols. These compounds play an important role in lowering blood pressure, improving blood vessel health, and reducing the risk of stroke and type 2 diabetes.

"Even this flavonoid compound can reduce the risk of chronic diseases by up to 19% and reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 13%," he said.

Interestingly, most of the flavonoid intake in the diet of the British people turned out to come from black tea.

"Tese drinkers get an average of 698 mg of flavonoids per day, while those who don't drink tea are only about 33 mg," said Dr. Bond.

Having these great benefits, the American Society for Nutrition recommends new guidelines for daily bioactive intake, which is 400-600 mg of flavan-3-ols per day to maintain heart health and metabolism. This amount is equivalent to four cups of tea every day.

Discussing the results of research published in Frontiers in Nutrition, Dr. Bond said the positive effect of tea on blood pressure was seen in consumption between one and four cups per day.

"Teh consumption in the long term has proven to help the function of blood vessels that play a major role in controlling blood pressure," he explained.

Black tea is said to have special benefits in lowering blood pressure, especially in people with high levels of homosicine, one of the risk factors for heart disease.

The researchers also found that the flavonoid content in black tea was directly related to the effect of lowering cholesterol.

Not only that, tea is also proven to help regulate blood sugar levels and increase the function of insulin in the body. These are two important factors in the prevention and management of diabetes.

"Given that diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, the ability of tea to control blood sugar provides an additional explanation of why tea is good for the heart," said Dr. Bond.

The study notes that every additional one cup of tea per day can reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 4%.

The study was released in conjunction with a national survey conducted by the Tea Advisory Panel on 1,000 British citizens.

The results showed nearly three-quarters of respondents paid attention to heart health, but only a third attributed tea to cardiovascular benefits.

We often miss this simple way of protecting the heart. Drink 34 cups of tea per day, because it will give us 400600 mg of flavan-3-ols which can help reduce inflammation and stress in the body, including in our heart and blood vessels." said Dr. Bond.