A study of more than 40,000 men and women in Japan has found that those who drink a lot of green tea live longer.

The investigation, published in the Sept. 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn., found the beverage was particularly effective in fighting heart disease but did not reduce the death rate due to cancer, as some earlier animal studies had suggested.

The 11-year study was conducted in northeastern Japan, where 80% of the population drinks green tea and more than half drink three or more cups daily.

Those who drank five or more cups of green tea a day had a death rate overall and from heart disease in particular that was 16% lower than those who drank less than one cup daily, over the course of 11 years. During the first seven years of the study, the death rate of the heavy tea drinkers was 26% lower.

(From Los Angeles Times, Times wire reports, September 2006)
Article URL: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-he-briefly18.2sep18,1,7137909.story?coll=la-health-medicine&ctrack=1&cset=true