The Association between Green and Black Tea Consumption on Successful Aging: A Combined Analysis of the ATTICA and MEDiterranean ISlands (MEDIS) Epidemiological Studies

Abstract

Tea is one of the most-widely consumed beverages in the world with a number of different beneficial health effects, mainly ascribed to the polyphenolic content of the tea catechins. The aim of this study was to examine the consumption of green, black, or no tea, in relation to the previously validated successful ageing index (SAI; higher values "healthier" ageing) in a combined analysis of adults aged >50 years old from the ATTICA (n = 1128 adults from Athens, Greece metropolitan area) and the MEDiterranean Islands Study (MEDIS) (n = 2221 adults from various Greek island and Mani) studies. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking, and coffee consumption, green tea was positively associated with SAI (b ± SE: 0.225 ± 0.055, p < 0.001), while black tea was negatively associated with SAI (unstandardized b coefficient ± Standard error: -0.807 ± 0.054, p < 0.001). Green tea (vs black tea) consumption, had higher odds of a SAI of over 3.58 out of 10 (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.38-2.28). Green tea consumption was also associated with higher levels of physical activity (p < 0.001) and reduced likelihood of hypertension (p = 0.006) compared with black tea. Two possible mechanisms are that green tea possesses high levels of catechins such as (-)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate and l-theanine compared with black tea. Therefore, the present analysis supports both the role of green tea constituents in successful ageing, as well as its role as an important component of an overall healthy diet in adults aged 50 years and over from these two epidemiological studies.

Keywords: EGCG; cardiovascular disease; green tea; successful ageing index; tea consumption.

Figure 1

Chemical structures of the four main green tea catechins (a) Epicatechin; (b) Epigallocatechin; (c) Epicatechin-3-gallate; (d) Epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Adapted from [6,18].