You probably reach for a cup of tea at some point most days, maybe at breakfast or in the quiet half-hour before bed.
For most of us it is a comfort more than a health choice. But how you brew it, and how you drink it, may matter more than you think.
Habitual tea drinkers had an 11 percent lower risk of vascular disease, according to a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
The research tracked nearly 486,000 adults in China.
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Participants were followed for a little over 9 years on average. During that time, 14,863 of them developed heart, brain, lung or peripheral artery disease. The data came from the China Kadoorie Biobank.
The biggest heart benefit
People who drank tea most days did best. Among weekly drinkers, the lowest estimated risk fell around 6 to 8 cups a day.
The authors stress this is not a recommended amount, because cup sizes in the study were not standardized.
Black tea was tied to more consistent benefits than green tea. Moderate-strength brews fared better than strong ones in the analysis.
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Both black and green tea come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis.
The difference is in processing. Black tea goes through heavy oxidation, while green tea is barely oxidized.
The one habit that erased the gain
Then came the twist. People who said they drank their tea "burning hot" had about a 16 percent higher risk of vascular disease compared with those who did not drink tea regularly.
That was enough to cancel out the benefit seen in warm-tea drinkers. The paper did not pin down why heat seems to flip the effect.
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Repeated scalding has been linked by other research to damage in the lining of the throat.
Chronic thermal irritation and the resulting inflammation are the leading suspicions.
Lifestyle shaped the picture too. Tea drinkers who did not currently smoke and stayed physically active had the lowest risk of all, around 45 percent lower than people with the opposite habits.
What the study cannot tell you
The findings come with caveats. The study is observational, so it can show patterns but not prove that tea protects the heart.
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Tea habits were recorded only once, at the start.
Temperature was self-reported, not measured with a thermometer. The researchers did not look at added milk or sugar.
The group was Chinese, so the findings may not transfer cleanly to other populations.
For readers who like their tea piping hot, the practical takeaway is small and specific.
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Burning-hot tea was the one preparation habit the data flagged as a problem.
Letting a freshly poured cup sit for a few minutes before the first sip is the simplest change the data points to.
This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.