Background: Epidemiological studies suggest that tea intake, a major dietary source of flavonoids, may be associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Methods: We prospectively followed 17 228 subjects (mean age, 59.5 years) initially free of CVD and cancer from the College Alumni Health Study. Participants provided baseline self-reports of tea consumption (cups/day) and coronary risk factors. During a median follow-up of 15 years, there were 3372, 2615, and 757 cases of CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke, respectively, ascertained from either self-reports or death certificates.
Results: Overall, the median level of tea consumption was 1 cup/day. Compared with participants consuming no tea, the multivariate relative risks (RR) of CVD for those drinking <1, 1, 2, 3, and >/=4 cups/day were 0.99, 0.96, 0.95, 0.91, and 0.95, respectively (P, trend = 0.19). The multivariate RR were 0.97, 0.98, 0.93, 0.85, and 0.98 for CHD (P, trend = 0.25), and 1.05, 0.89, 1.00, 1.09, and 0.83 for stroke (P, trend = 0.53). There was no evidence of effect modification. Changes in tea intake were assessed in a subgroup of 7730 men, with those continuing to drink tea having a non-significant 33% reduction in the risk of stroke.
Conclusions: Tea intake, likely consumed as black tea, was not strongly associated with a reduced risk of CVD in this population of US college alumni.