Drinking these 2 beverages regularly can keep you healthy into old age

Coffee undoubtedly provides the most abundant source of caffeine as far as beverages are concerned. But that doesn’t in turn make it the healthiest option.

In a new study published in the journal, Cellular Physiology, and Biochemistry, a team of researchers at the University of California, Irvine posit that compounds found in green and black tea dramatically contribute to cardiovascular health.

The mechanisms revolve around an ion channel protein found in the blood vessels called, KCNQ5.

More specifically, the researchers determined that two catechin-type flavonoid compounds (epicatechin gallate and epigallocatechin-3-gallate) found most commonly in black and green tea, each activates KCNQ5. The results remained consistent when participants involved in the analysis had KCNQ5 activating compounds applied directly to their blood vessels.

These results were so strong in fact, the researchers are confident that habitual tea consumption could yield comparable effects as antihypertensive treatments (drugs meant to address hypertension).

In addition to black and green tea’s antihypertensive benefits, those who habitually consume them enjoy decreased risk for heart disease, certain forms of cancer, high cholesterol, gut health, blood pressure, and stroke.

“Tea, produced from the evergreen Camellia sinensis, has reported therapeutic properties against multiple pathologies, including hypertension. Although some studies validate the health benefits of tea, few have investigated the molecular mechanisms of action,”the authors wrote in the new report.

“We report that green and black tea extracts strongly and isoform-selectively activate KCNQ5. Screening the common catechins in tea, we found that ECG and EGCG selectively activate KCNQ5, making them potential candidates for future medicinal chemistry optimization and drug development for hypertension and even KCNQ5 loss-of-function encephalopathy.”

It should be noted that the addition of milk seemed to obstruct the advantageous effects produced by the activation of KCNQ5.

“While we found that addition of cow’s milk to black tea eliminated the KCNQ5 augmenting effects of black tea in vitro (Fig. 3), a prior study showed that black tea ingestion resulted in robust increases in plasma levels of total phenols, catechins, quercetin, and kaempferol that were unaffected by the addition of sem-skimmed cow’s milk to the ingested tea,” the authors added.

Conversely, after employing mass spectrometry (an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions), the researchers concluded that heating green tea to 35 degrees Celsius augments its chemical makeup. This alteration actually greatly improves green tea’s role in disease prevention by more reliably activating KCNQ5.

Though considering human body temperature is about 37 degrees Celsius, KCNQ5 will likely be activated in the blood vessels regardless of whether your tea is consumed iced or hot.

“Tea played a role in creating the world as we know it today. As the consumption of tea spread across the globe, it changed the areas it encountered. With more than 2 billion people currently consuming tea daily in one form or another, it is still playing a significant role in society.,” the authors concluded.

“Not only has tea had significant cultural and historical impacts on the world, there have also been many reported health benefits to drinking tea—dating as far back as the Shang dynasty (1766-1050 BC), during which tea leaves were used as an herbal remedy in conjunction with other forest herbs [36]. For as long as tea has been around, it has been considered to have medicinal properties.”