When a woman reaches age 70 or so, the word ‘osteoporosis’ takes on a whole new meaning. And strikes fear in your heart. Or, should I say, your hips? Fragile bones are the leading cause of serious breaks among the elderly. But a cheery ‘cuppa’ may be the answer…
Concerned about the threat of osteoporosis? Science says a cup
of tea may be just what you need to lift your spirits…
A team from Flinders University (Australia) has discovered that a universal everyday beverage can help protect older folks – particularly women – from the dangers -potentially life threatening – of osteoporosis…
An abstract of the study’s findings sets the scene: “Osteoporosis affects one in three women over 50 and leads to millions of fractures every year, making bone health an important global issue. Because coffee and tea are part of daily routines for billions of people, researchers note that understanding their long-term effects on bones is essential. Previous findings have often been inconsistent, and few studies have followed such a large group across an entire decade.”
What they did
The team availed itself of information from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF), which took repeated measures of beverage intake and Bone Mineral Density (BMD) at the hip and femoral neck. These areas are among the most likely to fracture in older folks.
As part of the SOF, participants regularly reported, over a 10-yer period, how much coffee and tea they consumed. At the same time, bone density was assessed using advanced imaging tools.
What they found
Data mining the SOF, the researchers found that, “Women who drank tea had slightly higher total hip BMD than those who did not. Although the improvement was small, it was statistically significant and may matter when considering the health of a large population.”
“Even small improvements in bone density can translate into fewer fractures across large groups,” said Adjunct Associate Professor Enwu Liu from the Flinders College of Medicine and Public Health.
The takeaway
“Our results don’t mean you need to give up coffee or start drinking tea by the gallon,” said Liu. “But they do suggest that moderate tea consumption could be one simple way to support bone health, and that very high coffee intake might not be ideal, especially for women who drink alcohol.”
My take
SO… if you already drink tea regularly, drink more. It won’t hurt, and it may help. If you don’t drink it regularly, start NOW!
I’d like to point out – even though the focus of this post is the benefits of tea – that science has recently revealed some signifiant benefits from drinking certain amounts of coffee. Which supports Liu’s observation about not giving up coffee in favour of tea. It’s just that, in the Flinders survey of SOF data, coffee did not show any significant effect on bone density one way or another.
But that’s good, too. I propose we add ‘does not degrade bone density’ in our list of the benefits of coffee’!
~ Maggie J.