Drinking Green Tea Can Help You Recover From These Health Conditions, Study Finds
Researchers have already discovered that green tea can improve your cholesterol levels, boost your brain function, and even provide some anti-cancer benefits. Now, it turns out that the beverage might also be a key part of recovering from heart attack and stroke.
A new study published in the journal Stroke found that stroke survivors who drank at least seven cups of green tea per day had about a 62% lower risk of death from any cause than their non-green-tea-drinking counterparts. According to WebMD, researchers also saw similar results for heart attack survivors, slashing the risk by as much as 53%. (Related: The 7 Healthiest Foods to Eat Right Now).
If you're a heart attack survivor who's not quite ready to start knocking back seven cups of green tea per day, the study revealed that another warm beverage may also lower your mortality risk, though not as effective. Researchers found that drinking just one cup of coffee per day lowered heart attack survivors' death risk by 22%, compared to those who didn't regularly drink coffee.
And while the study found no relationship between green tea consumption and mortality for participants without a history of stroke or heart disease, these participants did experience a 14% lower risk of dying from any cause if they drank a cup of coffee daily. In short, drinking ample green tea every day may increase longevity for both heart attack and stroke survivors, while sipping on a cup of java may offer minor life-extending benefits for everyone.
The study looked at data from nearly 50,000 adults in Japan ages 40-79, over the course of about 20 years. Participants typically drank their green tea without sugar, though coffee may have been prepared with milk and sugar. Researchers were not able to explain with any certainty why green tea and coffee offered the life-extending benefits seen in the study. More research is needed to better understand why these results occurred.
In the interim, why not start drinking more green tea? After all, the calming beverage offers so many other health benefits—it ultimately can't hurt to add a few cups into your daily routine.
If you're ready to make green tea part of your daily routine, and you're not sure which brand to buy, check out our ranking of the best green teas available at the store. Then, be sure to read 9 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Brewing Coffee, According to Experts.
