Evidence Of Health Benefits Of Tea Is A Little Weak

A New York Times health columnist recently assessed studies that examined the benefits of coffee, finding that drinking coffee is indeed healthful. He then looked at studies regarding tea’s benefits, finding that most of the research has been conducted in Asia, and conclusions may not apply to Americans (who drink a lot less tea daily). Studies, for example, somewhat inconclusively linked tea drinking with less risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, liver steatosis, cirrhosis, chronic liver disease, depression, stroke, heart disease, cardiac death, cerebral infarction and intracerebral hemorrhage. The upshot is that Aaron Carroll is “a little less impressed with the body of evidence regarding tea.” He says the data are not enough to “strongly recommend” drinking tea, but there may be some potential benefits, and no harms.