The Association between Green and Black Tea Consumption on Successful Aging: A Combined Analysis of the ATTICA and MEDiterranean ISlands (MEDIS) Epidemiological Studies.

Nenad Naumovski,Labros S Sidossis,Christina Chrysohoou,Evangelos Polychronopoulos,Stefanos Tyrovolas,Antonia-Leda Matalas,Nathan M D’Cunha,Alexandra Foscolou,Demosthenes Panagiotakos,Christos Pitsavos,Loukianos Rallidis

doi:10.3390/molecules24101862

Abstract

Tea is one of the most-widely consumed beverages in the world with a number of different beneficial health effects, mainly ascribed to the polyphenolic content of the tea catechins. The aim of this study was to examine the consumption of green, black, or no tea, in relation to the previously validated successful ageing index (SAI; higher values “healthier” ageing) in a combined analysis of adults aged >50 years old from the ATTICA (n = 1128 adults from Athens, Greece metropolitan area) and the MEDiterranean Islands Study (MEDIS) (n = 2221 adults from various Greek island and Mani) studies. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking, and coffee consumption, green tea was positively associated with SAI (b ± SE: 0.225 ± 0.055, p < 0.001), while black tea was negatively associated with SAI (unstandardized b coefficient ± Standard error: −0.807 ± 0.054, p < 0.001). Green tea (vs black tea) consumption, had higher odds of a SAI of over 3.58 out of 10 (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.38–2.28). Green tea consumption was also associated with higher levels of physical activity (p < 0.001) and reduced likelihood of hypertension (p = 0.006) compared with black tea. Two possible mechanisms are that green tea possesses high levels of catechins such as (−)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate and l-theanine compared with black tea. Therefore, the present analysis supports both the role of green tea constituents in successful ageing, as well as its role as an important component of an overall healthy diet in adults aged 50 years and over from these two epidemiological studies.

Highlights

Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide, and global consumption ranks second only to water, well ahead of coffee, beer, wine and carbonated soft drinks [1,2]
No statistically significant differences were observed as regards cardiometabolic risk factors, adherence to the Mediterranean diet and smoking habits
Black tea consumption was negatively associated with successful aging compared with both green tea consumption and no tea consumption

Summary

Introduction

Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide, and global consumption ranks second only to water, well ahead of coffee, beer, wine and carbonated soft drinks [1,2]. It is not surprising that the health-promoting effects of tea have been intensively investigated over recent decades [3,5,6]. The manufacture of black tea involves the oxidative polymerization of the monomeric flavan-3-ols by the enzyme polyphenol oxidase, leading to the formation of bisflavanols, theaflavins, thearubigins and other oligomers. During the production of green tea, freshly harvested leaves are quickly steamed or hot air-dried to inhibit the oxidizing enzyme, polyphenol oxidase, which prevents fermentation of the tea, yielding a dry and stable product. The beneficial health effects of green tea are primarily ascribed to the biologically active polyphenolic components, especially the monomeric flavan-3-ols and the catechins [3,10,11,12]

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