Mom always described her stoic Scottish Mom as a ‘tough old bird’. Now I think I know what kept her going, seemingly indestructably, to the age of 86! Grandma drank about 20 cups of tea a day!
King Charles III is very particular about what he consumes at tea time, just like his
his mother was. Tea was one of Queen Elizabeth’s favourite beverages. No wonder
she lived, without any major health incident on record, to the ripe old age of 96!
That reference to 20 cups may be a bit of an exaggeration. But I vividly recall seeing her putting the kettle on to boil again, right after rinsing out her cup following the previous ‘dose’…
Boning up…
The dreaded, all-too-common bone-destroying condition that plagues aging folks – disproportion-ately women – is known as osteoporosis. Now, science has discovered that drinking plain, everyday black tea can help older folks preserve bone density.
A plague
Osteoporosis has been called a plague by bone doctors across the Western World.
According to a recent story in Food & Wine, “one in three women over 50 will experience osteoporosis in their lifetime, which can lead to bone fractures. A hip fracture is among the most dangerous types, often carrying a major risk of long-term disability and potentially early death.”
What they did
Researchers at Flinders University (South Africa) tracked nearly 10,000 women aged 65 and older over a decade monitoring bone density statistics. They wanted to see if there was a difference between tea drinkers and coffee drinkers, non-tea drinkers and non-coffee drinkers…
The researchers measured subjects’ higher hip bone mineral density at regular intervals and noted any changes over time.
What they found
The simple but significant findings lend themselves to straightforward point-list presentation:
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- Tea drinkers showed higher overall hip bone density compared to non-tea drinkers.
- Moderate coffee drinkers showed no difference in bone density.
- Heavy coffee drinkers showed slightly lower bone density loss.
The takeaway
“Our results don’t mean you need to give up coffee or start drinking tea by the gallon,” study report co-author Ryan Liu observes. “But they do suggest that moderate tea consumption could be one sim-ple way to support bone health, and that very high coffee intake might not be ideal, especially for women who also drink alcohol.”
“While calcium and vitamin D remain cornerstones of bone health, what’s in your cup could play a role, too. For older women, enjoying a daily cup of tea may be more than a comforting ritual; it could be a small step toward stronger bones,” Liu concludes.
My take
One cup? ONLY one cup? The tea drinkers I know – and I know quite a number – are more like my Grandma in their consumption habits.
What we need to see, obviously, is a study on what 20 cups of tea a day does for you. Or, more precisely, TO you…
~ Maggie J.