Daily Dark Tea Consumption Linked to Better Blood Sugar Management

According to new research, a daily cup of dark tea could help you maintain your blood sugar levels and limit the risk of developing diabetes. This article examines this scientific claim and how tea can be used for diabetes prevention.

How Was The Study Conducted?

For the study, researchers examined data on diabetes diagnosis, blood sugar levels, and lab tests showing how well the body processes sugars for 1,923 adults in China. This included individuals who didn’t drink tea at all and those who exclusively drank one type of tea, such as black tea or a beverage known as dark tea.

What Were The Findings?

According to the study findings presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting in Germany, people who drank tea daily were overall less likely to suffer from diabetes than those who didn’t drink tea at all. Tea drinkers were also 15 percent less likely to experience prediabetes.

Which Kind of Tea Is Best For Diabetes Prevention?

After reviewing the different types of tea people drank, scientists concluded that dark tea had the biggest impact on diabetes risk, reducing the possibility of the condition by 47 percent and cutting the odds of prediabetes by 53 percent.

Habitual dark tea consumption was also connected to increased urinary glucose excretion and reduced insulin resistance. Doctors believe these actions are beneficial for glycemic control and could have contributed to the reduced risk of prediabetes and diabetes in dark tea drinkers.

Why Might Tea Help Prevent Diabetes?

When you excrete more glucose or sugars in your urine, it could mean your body does a good job of maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. Urinary glucose excretion was also better in daily tea drinkers than in individuals who didn’t drink tea.

By contrast, insulin resistance could mean your body struggles to manage blood sugar effectively. Drinking tea was associated with a lower risk of insulin resistance, with the risk reducing further when dark tea was consumed.

Unfortunately, the study wasn’t a controlled experiment to determine whether or how drinking tea in general or dark tea in particular could influence blood sugar levels or diabetes risk. That said, it contributes to an already large body of evidence connecting tea consumption, including dark tea, to a lower risk of diabetes.

Conclusion

New studies show that drinking dark tea daily could help you manage your blood sugar and avoid diabetes. You can drink it solo or pair it with milk or lemon for added flavor.