Drinking Tea can Keep Your Heart Healthy As You Age

Medscape Staff

February 08, 2023

 A diet high in flavonoids, such as black tea, can help prevent abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) in women later in life, according to the Heart Foundation and researchers from Edith Cowan University.

 What to Know

• Elderly women who drank black tea on a regular basis or consumed a high level of flavonoids in their diet were found to be far less likely to develop extensive AAC.

• AAC is calcification of the large artery that supplies oxygenated blood from the heart to the abdominal organs and lower limbs. It is associated with cardiovascular disorders, such as heart attack and stroke, as well as late-life dementia.

• Flavonoids are naturally occurring substances that regulate cellular activity. They are found in many common foods and beverages, such as black tea, green tea, apples, nuts, citrus fruit, berries, red wine, dark chocolate, and others.

• Study participants who had a higher intake of total flavonoids, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols were almost 40% less likely to have extensive AAC, while those who drank two to six cups of black tea per day had up to 42% less chance of experiencing extensive AAC.

• People who do not drink tea can still benefit by including foods rich in flavonoids in their diet, which protects against extensive calcification of the arteries.

This is a summary of the article, "Higher Habitual Dietary Flavonoid Intake Associates With Less Extensive Abdominal Aortic Calcification in a Cohort of Older Women," published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology on November 2 , 2022. The full article can be found on ahajournals.org.