Canberra, Australia: A daily cup of tea could help you to enjoy better health late in life; however if you're not a tea drinker, there are other things you can add to your diet.
The key is flavonoids, which are naturally occurring substances found in many common foods and beverages such as black and green tea, apples, nuts, citrus fruit, berries and more. They have long been known to have many health benefits; however new Edith Cowan University (ECU) research shows they may be even better for us than previously thought.
The Heart Foundation supported a study of 881 elderly women (median age of 80), which found they were far less likely to have an extensive build-up of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) if they consumed a high level of flavonoids in their diet.
AAC is the calcification of the abdominal aorta; the largest artery in the body which supplies oxygenated blood from the heart to the abdominal organs and lower limbs, and is a predictor of cardiovascular risks such as heart attack and stroke.
Black tea was the study cohort's main source of total flavonoids and was also associated with significantly lower odds of extensive AAC. Compared with respondents who didn't drink tea, participants who had two-to-six cups per day had 16-42 per cent less chance of having extensive AAC.
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