Regular Tea Drinking May Be Linked to an 11% Lower Heart Disease Risk, Study Suggests

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• Drinking tea on a regular basis may help support heart health, according to a new study.
• The strongest benefit appeared among people who drank 6 to 8 cups a day.
• Tea drinking, high physical activity, and not smoking were tied to the largest drop in heart disease risk.

Research has long connected coffee with a range of health perks—it may protect your heart, lower liver cancer risk, and even help you live longer. But what about people who reach for tea instead?

A recent study offers encouraging news: tea may also deserve a place among heart-friendly beverages.

Meet the Experts: Christopher Davis, M.D., chief cardiologist at Humann; Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., R.D., preventive cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished.com; Arash Bereliani, M.D., board-certified cardiologist and medical director of the Beverly Hills Institute for Cardiology and Preventive Medicine.

Published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, the findings are not the first to point to tea’s health benefits. Regular tea drinking has been linked to several positive outcomes before, even if those benefits are discussed less often than coffee’s. This new research adds more support for the drink, and cardiologists plus a dietitian explain what it may mean for your daily cup.

What did the study find?

Researchers followed a large group of nearly 486,000 adults in China and asked about their tea-drinking habits. About nine years later, they examined participants’ heart and blood vessel health to see whether tea intake had made a difference.

They found that regular tea drinkers had roughly an 11% lower risk of vascular disease, including heart disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease, than those who did not drink tea. Black tea showed a more consistent benefit than green tea, and moderate-strength tea appeared to offer the greatest effect. More tea was not necessarily better, either: among weekly drinkers, those who consumed six to eight cups a day had the lowest risk.

Temperature also seemed to matter. “One finding stood out to me: People who drank their tea very hot actually had a higher risk,” says Christopher Davis, M.D., chief cardiologist at Humann. In the study, people who said they drank “burning hot” tea had a 16% higher risk of vascular disease.

Like many nutrition findings, the result was not just about what people drank. Their overall habits also mattered. The people with the lowest risk were the ones who drank tea regularly, did not smoke, and were highly active. That combined lifestyle pattern was linked to about a 45% lower heart disease risk compared with having none of those habits. In other words, tea was not the only factor at work.

How tea may lower heart disease risk

“Tea is rich in polyphenols, mainly flavonoids, which are plant compounds that support the lining of your blood vessels,” explains Dr. Davis. “That lining, called the endothelium, makes nitric oxide, which helps blood vessels relax and keeps blood flowing well. Flavonoids appear to support nitric oxide activity and may also help lower inflammation and limit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which plays a role in plaque buildup.”

Black tea’s fermentation process also produces its own polyphenols, including theaflavins, which may help explain why it performed well in the study, he adds.

The findings also suggest that small habits can add up. “There may also be a behavioral piece: A daily cup of tea often replaces a soda or sugary drink and can be a calming ritual,” says Arash Bereliani, M.D., board-certified cardiologist and medical director of the Beverly Hills Institute for Cardiology and Preventive Medicine.

Although black tea appeared to edge out green tea slightly in this study, Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., R.D., preventive cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished.com, notes that both are rich in antioxidants and that there is no single “best” choice. She also points out that the lowest estimated risk was seen among people who drank six to eight cups daily, but that does not mean everyone needs that much to see a benefit, or that drinking less offers none.

The bottom line

Even with these promising results, the study does not prove that tea directly causes a lower risk of vascular disease. It was observational, so it could show associations, but not cause and effect.

The temperature findings should also be interpreted carefully. Participants reported how hot their tea was, but researchers did not measure it with a thermometer. Still, the link between “burning hot” tea and higher risk is one that deserves more study. Researchers noted that this pattern is at least in line with existing concerns that very hot beverages may increase disease risk, including cancer.

The main lesson is that regular tea drinking can be part of a healthy routine, but it is only one piece of the puzzle if you want to protect your heart. “Tea can be a helpful addition to a heart-healthy lifestyle, but it is just one piece of the puzzle,” Routhenstein says. “The biggest priorities remain following a heart-healthy diet that meets your nutrient needs and supports healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels, getting regular physical activity, avoiding smoking, prioritizing adequate sleep, and managing blood pressure.”

She also emphasizes the importance of knowing your personal cardiovascular risk and working with your healthcare team on the areas that need attention. “Prevention involves addressing the interconnected factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, including inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, and elevated levels of cholesterol-carrying particles that can promote plaque buildup,” Routhenstein adds. “Small, consistent changes across several areas can have a meaningful impact on long-term heart health.”

Dr. Davis agrees: “The bigger message is that heart health comes from habits that stack together, and this study showed exactly that.”