Can drinking tea help protect against cardiovascular disease?

In a Journal of Internal Medicine study, people who drank tea had a lower risk of vascular disease than non-tea drinkers.

Among 485,934 adults in China followed for a median of 9.05 years, there were 14,863 cases of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, pulmonary heart disease, and peripheral artery disease. Regular tea consumption was linked with an 11% lower risk of experiencing these outcomes. The lowest risk was estimated at approximately 6–8 cups per day among weekly drinkers.

Black tea showed more consistent inverse associations with vascular disease than green tea. Regarding strength, moderate-strength tea was associated with the lowest risk. Interestingly, “burning hot” tea was associated with an elevated risk of vascular disease.

“Joint analyses showed that tea consumption, smoking status and physical were collectively associated with vascular risk, with the favourable combination of habitual tea consumption, non-current smoking and high physical activity associated with the lowest risk,” the authors wrote.

Reference:

Ye Z, Wang Y, Qu Y, Chen M, Fan J, Zhu HE, et al. Habitual tea consumption is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk. J Intern Med. 2026;e70172.