Drinking Tea May Trim Men’s Waistlines . . . Men Who Drink Tea Have Smaller Waistlines Than Those Who Don’t

Could tea be the secret to a trim waistline? For men, the answer may be yes, or at least it couldn’t hurt.

A new study shows that men who drink more than two cups of tea a day have trimmer waistlines than men who drink coffee or nothing at all. But the same doesn’t hold true for women.

Researchers say previous studies have looked at coffee and tea drinking habits and obesity in general, but little is known about how these habits affect abdominal obesity. Abdominal obesity, or excess fat around the midsection, has been linked to a number of health risks, including heart disease and diabetes.

The study, presented this week at the First International Congress on Abdominal Obesity, looked at the relationship between coffee and tea drinking and abdominal obesity in 3,823 adults who participated in the 2003-2004 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

«The potential association between coffee/tea and abdominal obesity is not trivial considering that more than 60% of the adult population drinks coffee/tea,that these beverages can be consumed as frequently as 10 times per day, and that a high percentage of coffee and tea drinkers use additives in these beverages,» write researcher D. R. Bouchard and colleagues at the school of kinesiology and health studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.