Dutch researchers evaluated coffee and tea consumption among 37,514 participants for 13 years and found reduced heart disease deaths among high and moderate tea drinkers and moderate coffee consumers.
The researchers did note that coffee and tea drinkers have different health behaviors, saying many coffee drinkers tend to smoke and have a less healthful diet than tea drinkers.
The study also was based on self-reported tea and coffee consumption and lacked specific information on the type of tea participants were drinking.
American health authorities tout the benefits of green tea, but black tea accounts for 78 percent of the tea consumed in the Netherlands and green tea only 4.6 percent, the study said.
Highlights of the findings:
» Drinking more than six cups of tea daily was associated with a 36 percent reduced risk of heart disease, compared with those who drank less than one cup of tea per day.
» Drinking three to six cups of tea per day was associated with a 45 percent reduced risk of death from heart disease, compared with drinking less than one cup per day.
» Modest coffee drinkers (two to four cups daily) had a 20 percent lower risk of heart disease compared with those drinking less than two cups or more than four cups.
» Neither coffee nor tea consumption affected stroke risk.
Shohet said it is reassuring that coffee and tea "don't cause increased risk of cardiovascular disease. But I wouldn't encourage people to drink them to protect themselves against cardiovascular disease." Some people, such as those with heart rhythm disturbances, should not drink caffeinated beverages, he said.
He also reminds people if they take sugar or other things with coffee or tea, "that's not going to be good."
