Worried about stroke? Drink more tea (and less coffee)

Drinking too much booze has always been one of the big risk factors for stroke. But colas, fruit juice and coffee could also be increasing the risk, a new study has discovered. Bryan Hubbard reports

Growing older is the biggest risk factor for stroke. When you reach 60, your risk is around 5 percent, but it increases dramatically after that, rising to 15 percent by the time you’re 75.

While there’s not much you can do about getting older, you can reduce the risk, including making healthier lifestyle choices. Chronic hypertension (high blood pressure) is one of the biggest risks, but so too is regularly drinking way too much alcohol.

But what about non-alcoholic drinks, like colas and those with caffeine? Researchers at the INTERSTROKE research project—which keeps tabs on around 27,000 people, half of whom recently suffered their first stroke—have drawn up a list of the good and bad drinks that either reduce the risk or increase it.¹

As ever, the poison is in the dose; drinking one cup of fizzy cola per day raises your risk by about 22 percent, but drinking more than two causes it to skyrocket. And don’t be fooled by the labels—fruit juice drinks may not be a healthy option if they contain other ingredients, and some contain as little as 3 percent actual juice.

One cup per day of a juice drink raises your stroke risk by 37 percent, but two cups more than triples it. This effect was especially pronounced in women.

“Not all fruit drinks are created equal—freshly squeezed fruit juices are most likely to bring benefits, but fruit juices made from concentrates, with lots of added sugars and preservatives, may be harmful,” explained Andrew Smuth at the University of Galway, one of the INTERSTROKE researchers.

On the other hand, previous research has shown that 100 percent juice lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke.²

Also interesting is that adding milk canceled out the reduction in stroke risk that comes with tea, perhaps by interfering with the effects of its antioxidants. However, adding milk to coffee didn’t change its effects.³

Drinks and stroke risk

Drinks that raise your stroke risk

Coffee (4+ cups a day)                                                                              ↑ 37%

Colas (2+ cups a day)                                                                                ↑ 229%

Fruit juice drinks (2 cups a day, from concentrate)                                 ↑ 318%

Drinks that lower your stroke risk

Tea (without milk)                                                                                     ↓ 18%

Black tea (3–4 cups a day)                                                                       ↓ 29%

Green tea (5+ cups a day)                                                                         ↓ 30%

Water (7+ cups a day)                                                                               ↓ 18%

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