New Research Suggests Drinking as Little as One Cup of Black Tea Per Day May Help Maintain Cardiovascular Function and He...( NEW YORK April 9 /- A new study condu...),Health

NEW YORK, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study conducted at the University of L'Aquila in Italy and supported by the Lipton Institute of Tea, is the first to show that black tea consumption - depending on dose - simultaneously increased blood vessel reactivity and reduced both blood pressure and arterial stiffness, suggesting a cardiovascular health profile that is consistent with maintaining heart health.

Using a cohort of 19 healthy men (mean age 33), the researchers assigned participants to one of five prescribed intakes of black tea over five periods lasting one week each. The caffeine level of each dose was standardized but the dose of tea flavonoids was controlled at levels of 0 (the control dose), 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg of tea flavonoids per day. A standard cup of black tea contains approximately 100-200 mg of flavonoids, depending on the individual preference of tea making. During the duration of the study, participants avoided naturally flavonoid-rich food and beverages such as red wine and chocolate to ensure that the results were a true reflection of flavonoid-rich black tea consumption only.

"In our study, black tea affected vascular function in normal individuals. We observed that vascular function improvement exerted by black tea started with one cup per day and further improved by increasing the number of daily cups of tea," explained Professor Claudio Ferri, the principle investigator of the study and one of the lead researchers in this field.

"We used the gold standard technique to assess the dilation of the brachial artery in response to black tea and observed a significant improvement in arterial dilation. Simultaneously, we also observed that black tea consumption lowered blood pressure and reduced arterial rigidity, thereby improving the elastic capacity of the blood vessels."

"Maintaining vascular function, with drinking even a single cup of black tea suggests that
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