Overview
- The Journal of Internal Medicine paper, published Thursday, October 22, 2026, followed about 480,000–500,000 Chinese adults for roughly nine years and found that people who drank tea at least three times per week had an 11% lower overall risk of vascular disease and a 36.6% lower risk of ischemic stroke.
- Benefits varied by how tea was consumed: black tea showed the strongest and most consistent association, the lowest risk appeared in people reporting about six to eight cups a day, and very-hot tea was linked with a 16% higher vascular risk.
- Researchers and outside experts stress the results are observational, so they do not prove cause and effect and cannot replace prescribed treatments for heart disease or high blood pressure.
- Biological plausibility comes from tea polyphenols such as catechins and theaflavins that affect blood vessels and inflammation, but prior trials show at best small blood-pressure reductions and mixed clinical evidence.
- Practical safety and preparation concerns matter: adding milk or lots of sugar and brewing very strongly can cut or erase benefits, very-hot drinks are tied to cancer risk, and high-dose green-tea extracts carry liver risks that the EFSA capped in supplements at 800 mg EGCG per day.