Drinking black tea can cut your risk of type 2 diabetes: study

Regular black tea drinkers have lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, researchers say.

A new analysis of data from 50 countries found that the nations who drank the most black tea also suffered the lowest levels of the metabolic syndrome.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, also found high tea consumption was related to lower levels of obesity, the Daily Mail reported.

Scientists think the fermentation process which turns green tea black could also cause the production of complex health-giving 'flavonoids.'

The report analysed consumption of black tea and the prevalence of various diseases, including type-2 diabetes.

Ireland drank the most black tea, with each person consuming 2kg each a year, according to sales data. Britain and Turkey were close behind, with all three countries found to have lower levels of diabetes than others where consumption was low, including Brazil, China, Morocco and Mexico.

However, tea drinking did not appear to have a strong association with any other diseases studied, according to the study led by Dr Ariel Beresniak from Data Mining International, in Geneva, Switzerland.

"These original study results are consistent with previous biological, physiological, and ecological studies conducted on the potential of black tea on diabetes and obesity," a BMJ spokesman said.

It follows a recent study from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, US, found those who drank green tea at least three times a week were 14 per cent less likely to develop a cancer of the digestive system.

The team studied more than 69,000 women in China and the results were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.