Daily Black Tea Could Support Blood Sugar Control, New Study Suggests
Researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia conducted a large study to explore how regular tea drinking may influence blood sugar management. The team found that people who drink black tea each day tended to have a lower risk of progressing from normal blood sugar to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. These findings were reported by EurekAlert.
Prediabetes is the stage before diabetes, indicating higher than normal blood sugar that increases the likelihood of developing the disease. In this study, 1923 adults aged 20 to 80 were enrolled. Among them, 436 already had diagnosed diabetes, 352 had prediabetes, and 1,135 had normal blood sugar levels. Participants reported how often they drank tea and which beverages they preferred. Researchers collected urine samples and measured the glucose-creatinine ratio as well as indicators of insulin resistance.
Diabetes can affect kidney function, with some individuals showing an increased ability of the kidneys to reabsorb sugar. As a result, more glucose is drawn back into the body and less is excreted in urine, which can raise blood sugar levels. The study observed that daily tea consumption was linked to a higher amount of glucose in urine, indicating that more sugar was being eliminated from the body and less likely to raise blood sugar levels.
Scientists estimate that drinking tea reduces the risk of developing prediabetes by about 15 percent and the risk of type 2 diabetes by around 28 percent. Black tea showed a stronger impact on these potential benefits.
Researchers noted that the kidneys’ sugar-release response to tea resembles the effects of some anti-diabetic medications. Drinking black tea in combination with prescribed diabetes medications could help some individuals manage blood sugar more effectively.
Earlier discussions have explored how various factors influence sugar control in diabetes, including lifestyle and dietary choices.