Sipping coffee or green tea confers significant protection against stroke

Six ounces of prevention

 

You can’t go wrong with a cup of green tea. This brew’s benefits border on legendary at this point.

But believe it or not, new research shows that your morning coffee might actually offer you a little more bang for your buck–at least where stroke prevention is concerned.

As part of a recent study, more than 80,000 Japanese adults reported on their green tea and coffee drinking habits.

Researchers followed the subjects for about 13 years, on average–reviewing hospital records and death certificates for data about heart disease and stroke risk. They also adjusted for factors like weight, alcohol intake, smoking status, diet, and exercise habits.

At the end of the study, results showed that sipping on coffee or green tea confers significant protection against stroke.

In fact, just one six-ounce cup of coffee per day lowered stroke risk by 20 percent. Two or three daily cups of green tea, meanwhile, lowered stroke risk by 14 percent–while people who drank four or more cups enjoyed a 20 percent lower risk of stroke.

Drinking one cup of coffee or two cups of green tea every day also lowered risk of intracerebral hemorrhage–that is, when a blood vessel bursts in your brain–by 32 percent.

Nearly 800,000 people in this country have a stroke every year. If a single cup of coffee can put a dent in that number, well… I’ll drink to that.

Source:
American Heart Association. “Coffee, green tea, may help lower stroke risk, research shows.” ScienceDaily, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.