Study links country's black tea consumption and diabetes risk
According to research backed by Unilever, owner of Lipton and PG Tips tea brands, countries that have a higher consumption of black tea also display a significantly lower prevalence of diabetes among their populations. Scientists studied black tea consumption in 42 countries and compared it to data from the World Health Organization on each country's rates of respiratory, infectious and cardiovascular diseases, as well as cancer and diabetes. They found that, on average, a population that consumes double the amount of black tea has about one quarter less cases of diabetes. Ireland had the highest annual consumption at more than 2 kilograms per person, closely followed by the UK and Turkey. South Korea, Brazil, China, Morocco and Mexico were at the bottom of the list. Researchers admit that this study does not establish a cause and effect relationship between the two variables, but claim that the scope of the study and the robust statistical relationship will pave the way for further research.