Drinking black tea every day could help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by controlling blood glucose levels.
- Consuming black tea every day helps stabilize blood sugar levels.
- This would help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Further work will have to confirm this hypothesis.
Is black tea an ally against diabetes? This is the hypothesis of a study presented at the Annual Congress of theEuropean Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), in Hamburg. According to its authors, daily consumption of black tea is associated with better control of blood sugar levels, and therefore with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
Tea and diabetes: a study on the consumption habits of 2,000 people
This work was carried out by researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia and the Southeast University in China. “The health benefits of tea, particularly in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, have been reported in several studies in recent years, but the mechanisms underlying these benefits remain unclear.“, notes the study’s co-lead author, Tongzhi Wu of the University of Adelaide.
To shed light on this subject, the authors used data from nearly 2,000 adults. Among them, some were regular tea consumers, others did not drink it at all. They were asked about their frequency of consumption and the type of tea drunk.
Drinking black tea is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
Researchers examined the association between frequency and type of tea consumed and urinary glucose excretion, insulin resistance, and glycemic status (defined as a history of type 2 diabetes, use of antidiabetic medications or an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test of 75 g). “People with diabetes often have an increased capacity for renal glucose reabsorption, so their kidneys scavenge more glucose, preventing it from being excreted in urine, which contributes to higher blood sugar levels.”specify the authors.
To understand the role of tea, they ruled out different factors that could have an impact on blood sugar levels. Their analysis shows that daily tea consumption was associated with increased urinary glucose excretion and reduced insulin resistance, as well as a 15% reduced risk of prediabetes and a 28% reduced risk. % of type 2 diabetes, compared to people who never drink tea. “These favorable health effects were more marked among black tea drinkers., observe the authors. Compared to people who never drank black tea, those who drank it every day had a 53% lower risk of prediabetes and a 47% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes: how to explain the benefits of black tea?
“These beneficial effects on metabolic control may lie in the way black tea is produced, which involves microbial fermentation, a process that can produce unique bioactive compounds (including alkaloids, free amino acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides and their derivatives) which exhibit powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, improve both insulin sensitivity and pancreatic beta cell performance, and modify the composition of bacteria in the intestine“, suppose the authors. For Professor Zilin Sun, co-author and researcher at Southeast University, daily consumption of black tea has the potential to reduce the risk and progression of type 2 diabetes thanks to its positive effects on blood sugar. He also emphasizes that it is an easy habit to implement. But this study is observational: other work is underway to confirm these results with a group of people with type 2 diabetes.