Tea linked to 11% lower vascular disease risk — SkimNews
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- Journal of Internal Medicine published a 2026 study that followed 485,934 adults in China for a median 9.05 years and recorded 14,863 cases across cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, pulmonary heart and peripheral artery diseases.
- Habitual tea consumption was associated with an 11% lower risk of the combined vascular outcomes compared with not drinking tea.
- Six to eight cups per day was linked to the lowest estimated risk among people drinking tea at least weekly, though the observational study did not establish that drinking more tea directly prevents disease.
- Black tea showed more consistent associations with reduced vascular-disease risk than green tea, while moderate-strength tea had the lowest associated risk.
- “Burning hot” tea was associated with increased vascular-disease risk; the study established neither a specific harmful temperature nor the biological mechanism.
- Tea drinkers who were not current smokers and maintained high physical activity had the lowest vascular-disease risk in joint analyses with habitual tea consumption.
Why it matters: For tea drinkers, the material contrast is an 11% lower estimated risk of combined vascular disease with regular consumption versus an association with higher risk when tea was “burning hot”; six to eight cups daily had the lowest estimate. Because the study was observational, it does not establish that tea—or that amount—directly prevents disease.
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