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HEART-HEALTHY Tea especially benefits women

A team of researchers in France has carried out a study and found that women who take three cups of tea daily are less likely to have plaques — dangerous build-ups of fat and cholesterol — in their arteries, British newspaper Daily Mail reported recently.

However, according to them, the same is not true in case of men. In fact, the researchers at the Institut National de la Sant Et de la Recherche Medicale in Paris came to the conclusion after examining a group of 2,613 men and 3,984 women with an average age of 73. They measured the level of plaque in their carotid artery using ultrasound. Carotid plaque was found in 45 per cent of women who were not tea-drinkers, in 42.5 per cent of women who drank one or two cups of tea daily and in only 33.7 per cent of those reporting drinking three or more cups a day.

Even women with high blood pressure appeared to gain protection from tea but male who’re regular tea-drinkers did not reap the same health benefits, the researchers found.

According to the team, it’s unclear why men did not benefit from tea-drinking in terms of lessening plaque build-up — one theory being that tea complements oestrogen, the female hormone that protects women against heart problems. The findings of the study have been published in the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, And Vascular Biology journal. — PTI

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