Tea consumption and the prevalence of coronary heart disease in Saudi adults: Results from a Saudi national study

Background. The aim of the study was to determine whether there was a relationship between tea consumption and the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Saudi Arabia. Methods. The relationship between tea consumption and the prevalence of CHD was investigated using multiple logistic regression analysis in the Saudi Coronary Artery Disease Study. A total of 3,430 men and women aged 30-70 years was studied. Results. Of the 3,430 subjects who were assigned a category, 6.3% were classified as having indications of CHD. Those who did drink more than 6 cups of tea (>480 mL) per day had a significantly lower prevalence of CHD than the nontea drinkers (P < 0.001). Adjustments for risk factors including age, gender, occupation, education, smoking, family history, blood lipids, diabetes, blood pressure, BMI, physical activity, and coffee and fat intake did not remove the significance (OR = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.24-0.96). There was a positive dose-response effect between tea consumption and CHD (P < 0.001) that was persistent after adjustment for various risk factors (P = 0.022). Conclusions. These findings support a potential protective effect of tea consumption in relation to CHD in this Saudi study in which all tea consumed was black tea. (C) 2002 American Health Foundation and Elsevier Science (USA).