cardiovascular disease in college alumni

Some recent epidemiological studies have suggested that tea intake may be associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Tea is a major source of flavonoids, a diverse group of more than 3000 polyphenolic compounds with anti-oxidant properties found in many fruits and vegetables.1 The potential inverse association attributed to tea has tended to come from prospective investigations in some European countries,2–8 where tea intake is higher in the UK and The Netherlands yet lower in Finland.9 American studies on tea intake, where tea intake is also lower, have generally been unable to replicate the promising European studies with limited numbers of cases.9–11 We therefore examined the association between tea intake and the risk of incident CVD using data from the College Alumni Health Study (CAHS), an ongoing prospective cohort study of middle-aged and older men and women