Mark Pillans

    A daily cup of green tea for longer life?

    Dried Vietnamese lotus tea

    Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most popular drinks in the world, and it is rich in plant compounds called polyphenols, which are thought to support health in a number of ways1. A growing body of research now suggests that regularly drinking green tea could also be linked to a longer life.

    Green tea leaves and human figure symbolizing health and longevity

    A large recent study followed over 42,000 people in northern Vietnam, aged 10 to 80 and older, for an average of 11 years2. The researchers found that those who drank the most green tea (roughly 74 mL, about a small cup, per day) had a 16% lower risk of dying from any cause compared with those who rarely or never drank it.

    This isn’t an isolated finding. Several other large studies, including pooled data from Japan and China, have found similar associations between tea consumption and reduced mortality risk3,4,5.

    What this means for you: while no single food or drink is a magic bullet, building a habit of regular green tea consumption appears to be a simple, low-risk addition to a health-supporting lifestyle. As always, it works best alongside good sleep, movement, and a balanced diet – not as a replacement for them.

    References

    1. Khan N, Mukhtar H. Tea polyphenols in promotion of human health. Nutrients. 2018 Dec 25.
    2. Le NT, Pham YT-H, Nguyen HL, Le LT, Nguyen NT, Vu TTT, et al. Green tea consumption and risk of all-cause mortality: findings from a prospective cohort study. Nutrients. 2026;18(12):1937.
    3. Zhang C, Qin YY, Wei X, Yu FF, Zhou YH, He J. Tea consumption and risk of cardiovascular outcomes and total mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies. Eur J Epidemiol. 2015 Feb.
    4. Abe SK, Saito E, Sawada N, Tsugane S, Ito H, Lin Y, et al. Green tea consumption and mortality in Japanese men and women: a pooled analysis of eight population-based cohort studies in Japan. Eur J Epidemiol. 2019 Oct.
    5. Wang X, Liu F, Li J, Yang X, Chen J, Cao J, et al. Tea consumption and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: the China-PAR project. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2020 Dec.

    Images

    Tea: Badagnani, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vietnameselotustea.jpg, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
    Circle with woman and leaves: CC0 1.0 Universal via https://svgsilh.com/