Seniors who are used to drinking black tea daily have less cardiovascular risk than others, according to a new study which confirms the benefits of flavonoids.
- Calcification of the abdominal aorta – the largest artery in the body, which supplies oxygenated blood from the heart to the abdominal organs and lower extremities – is a major predictor of cardiovascular risk such as heart attack and stroke.
- In France, cardiovascular diseases are the second cause of death (the first for women), according to the Ministry of Health. They are responsible for around 140,000 deaths per year.
A cup of tea a day for better future health? That’s what researchers suggest in a new study published in the scientific journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB). According to them, the consumption of black tea could ward off the risk of cardiovascular disease thanks to its high concentration of flavonoids, plant pigments with antioxidant and anticancer properties.
Black tea prevents arteries from calcifying
If the benefits of flavonoids are already documented, they could well be “even higher than previously thought”can we read in a communicated. To support their hypotheses, researchers from Edith Cowan University (Australia) studied a group of 881 women, with a median age of 80, and the incidence rate of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC). Calcification of the arteries is one of the most common heart disorders that effectively predicts cardiovascular risk such as heart attack or stroke, but also the risk of dementia at the end of life.
However, it turned out that women who had a high intake of flavonoids through their diet were 36 to 39% less likely to develop extensive CAA. And according to the study, the best way to restore your level of flavonoids is black tea: volunteers who drank two to six cups a day were 16 to 42% less likely to suffer from it than those who didn’t drink a drop.
500 milligrams of flavonoids per day
Other food sources of flavonoids, such as apples, raisins, dark chocolate, nuts and even berries, didn’t show such a strong association – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t. not. “Among women who do not drink black tea, a higher total intake of flavonoids from sources other than tea also appears to protect against extensive calcification of the arteries”underlines the researcher in nutrition Ben Parmenter, responsible for the research.
A previous study had shown that a high dietary intake of flavonoids, which have anti-inflammatory properties and therefore improve the functioning of blood vessels, could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease but also cancer, especially in smokers and alcoholics. . “A daily diet with a cup of tea, an apple, an orange, 100 grams of blueberries and 100 grams of broccoli provides a wide variety of flavonoids in amounts greater than 500 milligrams”the rate estimated by researchers to stay healthy.
