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Five cups of black tea a day 'cut risk of a stroke and diabetes'
The humble cup of tea is being hailed for its health benefits
Experts say it reduces blood pressure, diabetes and stroke risks
Dutch schoolchildren as young as four are already served tea with lunch
Health officials are recommending the tea should be drunk black or green
The humble cuppa is being hailed for its health benefits - with experts saying that having regular drinks of tea reduces blood pressure, diabetes and stroke risks.
People should drink between three and five cups a day, according to the Health Council of the Netherlands, an independent scientific body that advises the country’s parliament.
Dutch schoolchildren as young as four are already served tea rather than squash or juices as a lunchtime drink, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The humble cuppa is being hailed for its health benefits - with experts saying that having regular drinks of tea reduces blood pressure, diabetes and stroke risks
Eert Schoten, a spokesman for the health council, said: ‘We noted that in the scientific literature in the last 10 years, there are clear signs that drinking tea is good for your health.
‘Three to five cups a day reduce blood pressure, diabetes and stroke risks, so this comes as one of our 16 guidelines.’
However, the health officials are recommending that the tea should be drunk black or green - and add that herbal teas do not count.
The Dutch guidance is ‘in keeping’ with the views of industry body, the Tea Advisory Panel.
Tim Bond, a member of the panel, said: ‘Three to five cups of tea are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
‘A number of recent studies looking at long term drinking habits have indicated that 3-5 cups of tea are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
‘Other studies in the short term looking at risk factors also agree that daily tea consumption in this range are likely to have a positive impact on heart heath.’
People should drink between three and five cups a day, according to the Health Council of the Netherlands, an independent scientific body that advises the country’s parliament
Recommendations to drink tea for its health benefits are a boost to the beverage - after annual UK sales figures fell six per cent in the last five years, from £699m in 2010 to an likely £654m in 2015, according to consumer analysts Mintel.
There has been an increase in sales of fruit and herbal teas, although green tea was at the centre of a health scare after a 16-year-old girl contracted acute hepatitis. She had been drinking three cups a day for three months and her doctors decided it was a ‘causative agent’ for her illness.
It emerged she had been ordering green tea from an unregulated internet supplier which may have contained an ingredient linked to hepatitis.
Source: Daily Mail