Drinking 4 Cups Of Tea Has An Unexpected Health Benefit

Experts have long touted the benefits of drinking tea. In fact, the belief that tea contains healing properties goes back thousands of years, according to MedicalXpress. While past cultures could only speculate on the benefits of tea, we now have stronger evidence backed up by science.

WebMD reports that black tea is associated with lowering cholesterol levels because it contains the antioxidants theaflavins and thearubigins. Black tea may also lower the risk of high blood sugar. When it comes to green tea, UC Health reports that it might help lower your chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. Both green and black tea contain polyphenols, which could help prevent cancer (via WebMD). Drinking white tea is also linked with a lower risk of developing cancer, per UC Health. But if you need another reason to drink tea, look no further. New research is shedding light on another unexpected benefit, and it may have you adding more tea to your diet.

The research included a review of 19 studies and was presented in September 2022 at the annual European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Data shows that drinking four cups of green, black, or Oolong tea daily lowered the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 17% over 10 years (via NBC News). Drinking one to three cups of tea per day lowered the risk by 4%, and that risk dropped by 1% for each additional cup of tea.

Xiaying Li, a researcher at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, said the results "are exciting because they suggest that people can do something as simple as drinking four cups of tea a day to potentially lessen their risk of developing type 2 diabetes," according to NBC News. Moreover, the consumption of more than four cups of tea did not appear to raise the risk of mortality.