Coffee or Tea? A prospective cohort study on the associations of coffee and tea intake with overall and cause-specific mortality in men versus women

Abstract

Coffee and tea intake have been associated with reduced mortality, but no studies have investigated possible substitution effects. The relationship of mortality with coffee, tea, and substituting coffee with tea was investigated in the Netherlands Cohort Study. In 1986, 120,852 men and women aged 55-69 years provided information on dietary and lifestyle habits. Mortality follow-up until 1996 consisted of linkage to Statistics Netherlands. Multivariate case-cohort analyses were based on 8665 deaths and 3166 subcohort members with complete data on coffee, tea and confounders. Higher coffee intake was significantly, nonlinearly related to lower overall and cause-specific mortality in women. In men, coffee was significantly positively related to cancer and cardiovascular mortality, and inversely to respiratory and other causes of death. Tea intake was significantly, nonlinearly related to lower overall, cancer and cardiovascular mortality in men, but showed no association with mortality in women. In substitution analyses, increasing the proportion tea (replacing coffee with tea) was significantly and nonlinearly related to lower overall, cancer and cardiovascular mortality in men, but in women higher tea proportions were positively associated with overall mortality (and most causes of death). This study suggests that for men, compared to exclusive coffee drinkers, those drinking 30-50% tea showed the lowest mortality; any tea drinking seemed better than only coffee. For women, those who drank exclusively coffee or drinking up to 40% tea had the lowest mortality, but those drinking higher percentages of tea were at increased mortality risk [HR = 1.41 (95% CI 1.01-1.99) for 80-100% tea compared to exclusive coffee drinkers].

Protective Effect of Green Tea Consumption on Colorectal Cancer Varies by Lifestyle Factors

“…Although a dose response association between green tea intake and the risk of CRC was examined in previous epidemiological studies [12,32,33], we found different risk patterns for CRC and the amount of green tea consumption depending on smoking and drinking status and a high-inflammatory diet. High green tea consumption decreased the risk of CRC, but moderate green tea consumption increased the risk of CRC in ever-smokers, ever-drinkers and the high-DII group.…”

Effects and Mechanisms of Tea and Its Bioactive Compounds for the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases: An Updated Review

“…Additionally, two prospective cohort studies found that drinking green tea could reduce the risk of CVD death with HR 0.86 (95% CI: 0.77–0.97) in middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults [28]. In a Netherlands cohort study, tea consumption was found to be remarkably and nonlinearly associated with the decreased CVD risk in men, with those drinking 2–3 cups/day possessing the lowest HR (0.72, 95% CI: 0.57–0.91) [29]. In addition, a Dongfeng-Tongji cohort study found that green tea consumption could reduce the risk of CHD (HR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81–0.98) in the middle-aged and older Chinese population [30].…”

Quantification of Polyphenols and Metals in Chinese Tea Infusions by Mass Spectrometry

“…As with all the other living organisms, the heterogeneity of compounds required for the development of a plant is remarkable: macronutrients are constituted by lipids, glucides, and proteins, while micronutrients are mainly represented by minerals, vitamins, and polyphenols. Camellia sinensis is the plant whose leaves are used for the manufacturing of tea, one of the most consumed beverage all over the world, well known for its health-promoting intake, mainly correlated to the antioxidant activities of polyphenols [ 1 , 2 ]. Polyphenols (secondary metabolites generally involved in defense against ultraviolet radiation or aggression by pathogens [ 3 ]) are responsible for tea color, astringency, and flavor [ 4 ].…”