Drinking tea and coffee lowers risk of stroke and dementia: Study

Researchers say people who drink a moderate amount of coffee and tea every day have a lower risk of stroke and dementia, one of a number of benefits of daily consumption of caffeine.

Over 10 to 14 years, the peer-reviewed study published in PLOS Medicine followed more than 360,000 participants to estimate the associations between coffee and tea consumption and incident stroke and dementia.

Researchers found those who drank two to three cups of coffee or three to five cups of tea or a combination of both for four to six cups a day had the lowest risk of dementia or stroke.

Researchers looked at people from the UK Biobank who were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed until 2020. Subjects self-reported their coffee and tea intake.

Those who drank the higher amounts of coffee or tea had a 32 percent lower risk of stroke and a 28 percent lower risk of dementia, compared with those who drank neither.

The study also found intake of coffee alone, or in combination with tea, was associated with lower risk of post-stroke dementia.

Coffee has long been thought to have health benefits with low to moderate consumption of coffee possibly supplying energy, alertness and increased concentration, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Previous peer-reviewed research has also suggested drinking coffee may reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, heart failure, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers, as well as death from those diseases and other causes.

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