They discovered that consuming 1-3 cups of tea daily reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes somewhat, while drinking 4 or more cups of tea daily reduced the risk by 17%. Diabetes affects around 422 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The most prevalent kind is type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin or becomes insulin resistant, making it difficult to absorb insulin from the blood.
Consuming teaTrusted Source and coffee has been associated to lower all-cause mortality in certain studies. Other evidence reveals that daily green tea drinking is associated with a decreased incidence of type 2 diabetes and a lower risk of all-cause death in diabetics. Further research on the effects of tea and dose on diabetes risk in large populations might help influence diabetes prevention measures. A meta-analysis of 19 cohort studies from eight countries was recently undertaken to explore the effects of black, green, and oolong tea intake on type 2 diabetes risk.
How many cups of tea?
They discovered that consuming four or more cups of tea each day may lessen the risk of diabetes. Dr. Kashif M. Munir, associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today, "Drinking tea does not appear to be hazardous and may give a slight advantage in diabetes risk reduction." The meta-analysis was presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden.
The researchers evaluated data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, which included 5,199 adult participants. Participants in the research did not have diabetes at the start and were monitored from 1997 to 2009. Questionnaires were used to obtain data on their tea usage. Overall, 45.76% of patients reported drinking tea, and 10.04% got type 2 diabetes over the research period. After controlling for age, gender, and lifestyle characteristics, the researchers discovered that tea consumers had a comparable risk of type 2 diabetes as those who did not drink tea.
The researchers then conducted a systematic evaluation of 19 cohort studies with 1,076,311 people that looked into the relationship between type 2 diabetes risk and tea drinking. They were able to investigate the association between type 2 diabetes risk and the intake of several types of tea, including green tea, oolong tea, and black tea, as well as the frequency of tea consumption, gender, and living location. The researchers discovered that tea drinkers had a 4% reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes than non-drinkers.
Those who drank at least four cups of tea each day, on the other hand, were 17% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-tea drinkers. The researchers noticed that their findings held true independent of tea kind, gender, or living location. They concluded that the favourable benefits of tea on diabetes risk may be related to the amount taken rather than other factors.
How Tea Can Help Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk
When asked how drinking tea can lessen the incidence of type 2 diabetes, Dr. Munir responded: "Food polyphenols included in tea, such as EGCG, have been demonstrated to lower insulin resistance and enhance endothelial function" ([which is] important for regulating the immune response, blood clotting, and the dilation or constriction of blood vessels). These actions may enhance glucose homeostasis and reduce the risk of diabetes." Dr. Mandy Willig, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama in Birmingham who was not involved in the study, told MNT as well:
"No particular mechanism for drinking tea to lower diabetes risk has been discovered." Tea polyphenols and catechins may increase insulin sensitivity or function as scavengers of reactive oxygen species. The quantity of polyphenols and catechins in a single cup of tea, on the other hand, varies widely depending on the type of tea, how the tea leaves are cooked and kept, and what additional ingredients are added to the tea." Other research Green tea has been shown to lower blood sugar levels in mice via boosting insulin production. Meanwhile, black tea is known to have significant quantities of theaflavins, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Black tea may also help to prevent obesity, a risk factor for diabetes, by increasing the conversion of white fat to brown fat, which aids in weight reduction, blood glucose management, and fat metabolism. The researchers found that drinking tea on a regular basis may lower the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
