Drinking tea more than three times a week

25. Drinking tea more than three times a week

Cost: It costs just a few dozen to a few hundred yuan per year. Brewing a cup takes only a few minutes, so it doesn’t take up much time at all.

In plain terms: People who regularly drink tea have a roughly 15% lower chance of dying during the same period. Starting at age 50, they can expect to live 1.26 years longer on average, and 1.41 extra years without developing any cardiovascular diseases.

Benefit: A study conducted in China involving 100,900 participants, called China-PAR, tracked half of them for 7.3 years. The results showed that people with a regular tea-drinking habit had a 15% lower risk of death (hazard ratio 0.85, 95% CI 0.79–0.90, which is a reliable range). For those starting at age 50, regular tea drinkers gain 1.41 extra years free from atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, and 1.26 extra years of overall life expectancy.

Evidence grade: A

Sources: Wang X, Liu F, Li J, et al. (2020). Tea consumption and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: The China-PAR project. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 27(18), 1956-1963. <https://doi.org/10.1177/2047487319894685>; Tea mycotoxins: Cui P et al. (2020). Quantitative analysis and dietary risk assessment of aflatoxins in Chinese post-fermented dark tea. Food and Chemical Toxicology. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2020.111830>; Zhou H et al. (2022). Mycotoxins in Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze): Contamination and Dietary Exposure Profiling in the Chinese Population. Toxins. <https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins14070452>; Green tea extract and liver damage: Hu J et al. (2018). The safety of green tea and green tea extract consumption in adults - Results of a systematic review. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2018.03.019>

Notes: There are some limitations to this research: it is purely observational, and Chinese men who drink tea tend to smoke and drink more than average. The researchers have accounted for some of these factors, but not all. Also, avoid drinking tea that is excessively hot; refer to the section on hot drink temperatures for more details. Some people worry about mycotoxins in tea; tests on 158 batches of dark tea found aflatoxin in just 2 batches, and the amount consumed via normal tea intake stays well below internationally accepted limits. Another study examining 352 tea samples for 16 types of mycotoxins found that only ochratoxin A in dark tea exceeded the safety limit on average, but even this amount is not considered a dietary risk for regular tea drinkers. Keep tea stored in a dry place, and discard any batches that have become damp or moldy. Tea extract capsules are a different story: taking large doses of concentrated catechins at one time can damage the liver, but this risk does not apply to brewed tea at all. Therefore, all the benefits mentioned here apply only to brewed tea, not to any tea extract supplements.