Drinking tea could support your heart health
Good news for tea drinkers. A recent study[i] suggests that regular tea drinkers have a lower risk of an early death than non-tea drinkers. For the study researchers looked at data on around 500,000 people aged between 40 and 69 from the UK biobank; 85 per cent were regular tea drinkers.
The results showed that those who drank two or more cups a day had a 9 to 13 per cent lower risk of dying over the course of the 11-year study than those who did not drink tea. And the benefits continued even when milk and sugar were added and regardless of the temperature at which the tea was drunk.
The reason is, as yet, unknown, but it’s thought that the plant Camellia sinensis from which tea derives is a rich source of antioxidant polyphenols – plant chemicals that have been found to benefit heart and blood vessels.
Getting a good night’s sleep can reduce your risk of heart disease
A good night’s sleep helps to protect heart health suggests a recent study[ii] carried out at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). The researchers tracked more than 7,000 adults aged between 50 and 75 for eight years and found that those who slept well were 75 per cent less likely to develop heart disease than those who didn’t sleep so well.
Participants were given a sleep score from nought to five based on five factors: length of sleep, if they were a morning person; whether they experienced insomnia, sleep apnoea or daytime tiredness. Just 10 per cent scored five while eight per cent were rated very poor sleepers. “Given that cardiovascular disease is a top cause of death worldwide greater awareness is needed of the importance of good sleep for maintaining a healthy heart,” said lead author Dr Aboubakari Nambiema.
Increase your walking speed to reduce your risk of disease
10,000 steps a day is the ‘sweet spot’ for a lowered risk of disease and death, but your walking speed could be just as important according to recent research published in the journals JAMA Internal Medicine and JAMA Neurology[iii].
The researchers who monitored 78,500 adults with wearable trackers, reported a link between a lowered risk of dementia, heart disease, cancer and death when covering 10,000 steps a day. However, a faster stepping pace like a power walk showed benefits above and beyond the number of steps achieved.
“The take-home message is that for protective health benefits people should not only ideally aim for 10,000 steps a day but also aim to walk faster,” said co-lead author Dr Matthew Ahmadi, Research Fellow at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health.[iv]
Benefits found for babies of mothers who take Vitamin D and fish oil supplements during pregnancy
Vitamin D and fish oil supplements are in the news again. A recent trial led by Copenhagen University Hospital discovered that babies were at lower risk of chest infection if their mothers took these supplements while pregnant. Rates of croup, a common childhood illness which causes a barking cough, were 38 per cent lower in those whose mothers took fish oil and 40 per cent down in those who took vitamin D. ‘It could be that taking vitamin D and fish oil can stimulate the immune system to help young children clear infections more effectively,” commented Dr Nicklas Brustad, lead author of the study.
[ii] .sciencefocus.com/news/getting-a-good-nights-sleep-may-help-to-protect-you-from-heart-disease-and-stroke/
[iii] JAMA Internal Medicine, 2022; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.4000
[iv] news-medical.net/news/20220905/Study-investigates-the-effect-of-vitamin-D-and-fish-oil-on-croup.aspx
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