A recent study (Calcium Intake and Fracture Outcomes Study) showed that older women who consumed black tea (with or without milk) showed lower fracture rates, regardless of whether they consumed green tea or other teas, with an average follow-up time of 5 years. In the Australian trial, in which more than 1,000 older women with an average age of 75 years participated, those who consumed at least three cups of black tea a day were 34% less likely to develop severe osteoporosis and 42% less likely to suffer a hip fracture than the rest of the population. At the 2015 annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Dr. Richard LPrince said that previous studies have demonstrated that tea contains flavonoids that are beneficial to bone structure. This study now goes a step further by showing that black tea is associated with a reduced risk of fracture in older women. Interestingly, this study was not originally designed to examine the relationship between tea consumption and fractures. The exact mechanism of the association between flavonoids and fractures is not known and needs to be further investigated. Dr. Prince noted that one of the major challenges in this study of tea and fractures was changing people’s tea drinking habits. If an older woman is afraid she will break a bone or hip, she should drink more black tea. The researchers concluded that future studies may focus on comparing the effects of medications versus long-term tea consumption on fractures. In the meantime, this study suggests that older women who are at high risk for fracture can drink multiple cups of black tea daily for fracture prevention. The inconsistency between tea consumption and fracture risk Dr. Prince said: We and other researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the relationship between tea intake and bone mineral density and found a non-linear relationship between tea consumption and fracture, which may be related to the different tea drinking habits of different populations. The researchers analyzed the diets of 1188 subjects who participated in the trial to estimate the subjects’ flavonoid intake. The results showed that 75 percent of the subjects’ flavonoid intake was derived from tea. The women were divided into three categories based on the frequency of tea consumption: 0-1 cup/week for 204; 1-3 cups/day for 357; and more than three cups per day for 627. During a mean follow-up of up to 10 years, a total of 288 women (24.2%), were hospitalized for osteoporotic fractures. The risk of severe osteoporotic fracture decreased by 9% (P=0.027) for each additional cup of tea consumed per day, but the relationship was no longer as significant after adjusting for bone mineral density. Approximately one in five (17.8%) of the subjects had a major osteoporotic fracture and about one in ten (10.9%) of the population had a hip fracture. The women tested with the highest intake of flavonoids were found to have a significantly lower risk of osteoporotic fracture (15% vs. 20%) or hip fracture (8% vs. 12%) compared to those with the lowest intake. And the difference between those who consumed 1-3 cups a day and those who consumed one cup of tea a week was not significant. Researchers say: If you’ve started drinking tea, keep it up.