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Can Tea Strengthen Your Bones? By Kate Lindemann

It has long been said that caffeine is not good for building strong bones. In fact, drinking more than three caffeinated beverages a day is listed as a risk factor for developing Osteoporosis (porous bone).

But a study reported in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" indicates that the tea may be helpful for keeping bones strong. A study done at the University of Cambridge in England examined the tea drinking habits and bone densities of over 1200 British women age 65 - 75. The researchers found that "tea drinkers "had stronger bones than "non-tea drinkers."

The tea-drinkers in the study had a 5 percent higher mean bone-mineral density than non-tea-drinkers. This could mean a 10 percent to 15 percent decline in fracture risk! These results are very different from those found among coffee drinkers.

The researchers said that perhaps antioxidants in tea are key players or it may be the flouride found in tea. Flouride has a positive effect on bone.

Researchers from National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Taiwan also found tea to have beneficial effects on bone. The surveyed 1,037 men and women age 30 and older who had bone density tests about their tea drinking habits. Most of the habitual tea drinkers consumed green or oolong tea.

Those who had been drinking tea for at least 6 -10 years had a hip-bone density 2.3 percent higher than in non-habitual tea drinkers and those who drank tea regularly for more than 10 years had a hip-bone density was 6.2 percent higher than in non-habitual tea drinkers.

Since Asian tea drinkers do not use milk in their tea, these results can not be attributed to any calcium found in milk. So, tea drinking may be a pleasant and easy means of strengthening your bones.

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