Tea & Your Heart: The Chemistry

February is American Heart Month!  All month we will be talking about ways tea is an important part of maintaining a healthy heart. This start off this week, we will look at some of the beneficial ingredients in tea that contribute to good cardiovascular health:

Polyphenols, Catechins, and Flavonoids…the power of Antioxidants!

Polyphenols, catechins and flavonoids are all antioxidants that protect cells from damage caused by free-radicals.  For example, in your cardiovascular system, when low-density lipoproteins (LDL or “bad” cholesterol) are oxidized by free-radicals they glue themselves to the walls of blood vessels, creating a plaque that eventually leads to coronary heart disease.  Since the above chemicals are antioxidants (i.e. they prevent oxidation), they help keep LDL cholesterol from sticking to vascular walls and act as a vasodilator, keeping your blood vessels wide and flexible, for blood to flow freely.

Since all tea, be it Green, Oolong, or Black, come from the Camellia sinesis plant, all teas contain these beneficial chemicals.  In fact, they contain 8-10 times the concentration found in fruit and vegetables!  If that is not a reason to have a cup of tea every day I am not sure what is!  Green tea, since it is not allowed to dry and ferment, has the largest concentration of antioxidants, with other tea varieties very close behind.

  

The Results of A Few Studies…

 

• A total of 3,430 men and women aged 30-70 years from the Saudi Coronary Artery Disease Study were examined and those who drank more than six cups of tea per day (>480 mg) had significantly lower prevalence of CHD than non-tea drinkers, even after adjustment for risk factors like age and smoking. The researchers also found that drinking six or more cups of Black Tea per day was associated with decreased serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. 

•  A Harvard study examined 340 men and women who had suffered heart attacks and compared them to matched control subjects. They found that those who drank a cup or more of Black Tea daily had a 44 percent reduction in the risk of heart attack compared to non-tea drinkers.

• Another recent Harvard study of 1,900 people found that those who consumed tea during the year prior to a heart attack were up to 44 percent more likely to survive over the three to four years following the event. Those who consumed fewer than 14 cups of tea per week experienced a 28 percent reduced death rate and those who consumed more than 14 cups of tea per week were found to have a 44 percent reduced death rate, as compared to non-tea drinkers.

Useful Websites on Heart Benefits of Tea:

There is an abundance of information on the internet about the cardiovascular benefits of tea:

 A WebMD article on health benefits of Green Tea :

a good synopsis of green teas benefits on everything

from heart health to cancer. 

Tea Linked to Heart Health:

A Senior Health article on how tea can help those

who already have cardiovascular issues.

An Overview of Research on the 

Potential Health Benefits of Tea

A great overview on the research studies 

associated with tea’s heart healthy benefits.

            As you can see, there are tremendous heart healthy benefits to drinking a glass or two of tea each day, with ample long-term research to back up those benefits.  While you spend this month thinking about all the ways to improve your cardiovascular health, from diet to adequate exercise, don’t forget about the important role tea can serve.

Coming next week – it’s not just the chemistry – the important role a cup of tea can serve in helping you relax and how relaxation is important to your heart!