A recent study suggests black tea may lower blood sugar. Fermented tea leaves produce polyphenols and antioxidants in black tea. Months or years of fermentation crush the leaves into cakes or bricks.
According to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg, Germany, daily black tea users had a 53% lower risk of prediabetes and a 47% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Our data imply that regular tea consumption may improve glucose excretion in the urine, insulin resistance, and blood sugar control. Co-lead author Associate Professor Tongzhi Wu of the University of Adelaide in Australia found that regular black tea consumers benefited most.
With Chinese Southeast University professors, 1,923 people aged 20–80 were studied. 436 had diabetes, 352 prediabetes, and 1,135 normal blood glucose.
The study included non-habitual tea drinkers and one-tea drinkers.
Their tea drinking frequency and type (green, black, dark) were asked.
The researchers examined tea frequency, kind, urinary glucose excretion, insulin resistance (triglyceride and glucose index), and glycemic status.
Daily tea consumption raised urine glucose excretion, decreased insulin resistance, and reduced prediabetes and type 2 diabetes by 15% and 28%, respectively, compared to non-tea users.
Wu added that bioactive components in black tea may directly or indirectly affect kidney glucose excretion, similar to sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors, a new type 2 diabetes drug family that protects the heart and kidneys.
As with any observational study, drinking tea daily may lower insulin resistance and increase urine glucose excretion, but the authors cannot confirm this.
Conclusion:-
The Hamburg-based European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) recommends drinking dark tea to manage blood sugar. In fermented black tea, polyphenols and antioxidants are produced. Daily dark tea drinkers had 53% fewer prediabetes and 47% fewer type 2 diabetes. Regular tea use may improve insulin resistance, urinary glucose excretion, and blood sugar control. The 1,923 individuals aged 20–80 included non-habitual tea drinkers and those who had only tasted one kind. Tea drinkers were 15% and 28% less likely to develop prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance decreased and urine glucose excretion increased.
