Daily Tea may compare to calcium for bones

Drinking tea regularly may lead to improvements in bone health similar to that observed with calcium or physical exercise, suggests the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers from the University of Western Australia report that bone mineral density levels were 2.8 per cent greater in tea drinkers than non-tea drinkers.

The new study involved 1500 elderly women (age range 70 to 85) taking part in a five year prospective trial. Tea consumption data were collected using 24 hour dietary recall in a subset of 275 subjects, while all the subjects completed a self-administered food frequency questionnaire on beverage consumption at the end of the trial.

Researchers report that total bone mineral density (BMD) was 2.8 per cent higher in tea drinkers, compared to non-tea drinkers. Over the course of four years, the researchers add that tea drinkers lost an average of 1.6 per cent of their total hip BMD, while non-tea drinkers lost significantly more (4.0 per cent).

Bonnie - while this is not the first study showing a positive correlation between tea and bone mineral density, it is nice to see the evidence growing. Don't forget: if you put sugar and milk in the tea, the majority of its benefits dissipate greatly!