Consuming one or more cups of tea a day can reduce the risk of heart attack to a person by 44 per cent, as compared to the risk faced by those who did not drink tea, according to Dr P R Krishnaswamy, chairman of the scientific advisory committee of the Bangalore-based Brooke Bond Tea and Health Information Centre.

The study on 340 case-control pairs, was a part of the Boston (Massachusetts, United States) area health study, which included six Boston-area hospitals, Krishnaswamy told reporters.

Participants, who took one cup or more tea a day had a significantly lower risk of heart attack compared to non-tea drinkers, independent of coronary risk factors and lipid levels, he said.

Flavonoids in tea reduced heart attack risk in three ways- by inhibiting low density lipoprotein cholesterol oxidation, reducing platelet aggregation (blood clotting) or reducing damage caused by a lack of oxygen to theheart (ischemic damage).

In addition, health behaviour and medical conditions of tea drinkers differed from non-tea drinkers. The flavonoids in black and green tea also helped in preventing other chronic diseases including cancer and paralytic stroke by neutralising free radicals that could damage tissues, cells and genes, Krishnaswamy added.