People who regularly drink black tea may benefit from a reduced risk of type-2 diabetes, a study suggests.
Researchers in the UK, Switzerland and France analysed black tea sales figures for 2009 from 50 countries and linked these with information on the countries' rates of diabetes and cancer, as well as respiratory, infectious and cardiovascular diseases.
They observed that Ireland, the UK and Turkey had the highest rates of black tea consumption, while the lowest rates were recorded in South Korea, Brazil, China, Morocco and Mexico.
Publishing their findings in the journal BMJ Open, the study authors observed a link between high rates of black tea consumption and low rates of diabetes.
However, a high intake of black tea did not appear to reduce the risk of the other conditions studied.
'These original study results are consistent with previous biological, physiological and ecological studies conducted on the potential of [black tea] on diabetes and obesity,' the researchers wrote.