Study Suggests This Widely Drunk Beverage Could Cut Heart Disease Risk by 11%

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Research has long tied coffee to a range of health perks—it may protect the heart, reduce liver cancer risk, and even help people live longer. But what about those who reach for tea instead?

A new study offers encouraging news: tea appears to belong on the list of drinks that may support better health.

Published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, the research is not the first to suggest benefits from regular tea drinking. Still, it adds to the evidence behind the beverage and may reassure people who start their day with tea. Here, cardiologists and a dietitian explain the results and share how they approach tea consumption.

What the study found

Researchers followed a large group of nearly 486,000 adults in China and asked about their tea habits. Nine years later, they examined participants’ heart health to understand how tea intake may have played a role.

They found that regular tea drinkers had about an 11% lower risk of vascular disease, including heart disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease, than non-drinkers. Black tea showed a more consistent benefit than green tea, and moderate-strength tea appeared to offer the strongest 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 seemed to matter as well. “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 preferred tea “burning hot” had a 16% higher risk of vascular disease.

As with many nutrition studies, the full picture is not just about what people consume. Other daily habits also mattered. The participants with the lowest vascular disease risk were regular tea drinkers who did not smoke and were highly active. People with that combination of habits had roughly a 45% lower heart disease risk than those with none of them, suggesting that tea was only part of the story.

Why tea may help heart health

“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.”

Dr. Davis adds that the fermentation involved in black tea creates its own polyphenols, including theaflavins, which may help explain its strong showing in the study.

The findings also suggest that small routines 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 have a slight edge for vascular disease in this study, Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., R.D., preventive cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished.com, notes that both black and green tea are rich in antioxidants, and there is no single correct choice. She also emphasizes that the lowest estimated risk was seen among people drinking six to eight cups a day, but that does not mean everyone needs that much to see benefits—or that lower amounts were useless.

The bottom line

The study is promising, but it does not prove that tea directly lowers vascular disease risk. Because it was observational, it could only track whether people developed the condition over time, not establish cause and effect.

The tea temperature results also have limits. Participants reported the warmth of their tea themselves, rather than having it measured with a thermometer. The association between “burning hot” tea and higher risk deserves more study. Even so, the researchers noted that the temperature-related findings align with existing concerns that very hot beverages may increase disease risk, particularly for cancer.

The main message is that drinking tea regularly can be a healthy habit, but it is only one part of a broader approach to wellness. “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.”

It is also important to know your personal cardiovascular risk and work with your healthcare team to identify areas that may 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.”