Green tea intake and the risk of hypertension in premenopausal women: the TCLSIH cohort study

Background and aims: Tea polyphenols, such as green tea polyphenols, have been extensively studied as agents that ameliorate cardiovascular disease and blood pressure in vitro and in animal studies. However, epidemiological evidence for the association of green tea consumption with hypertension (HTN) is inconsistent. In addition, such an association has not been prospectively examined in the general adult population, particularly among young women. Therefore, we designed a cohort study to examine whether green tea consumption increases the risk of HTN in premenopausal women. Methods and results: This prospective cohort study investigated 6633 premenopausal female participants without hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at the baseline. Green tea consumption was measured at the baseline using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Hypertension was confirmed with the SBP ≥140 mm Hg-1 or with the DBP ≥90 mm Hg-1. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the association of green tea consumption with incident hypertension. A total of 488 first incident cases of hypertension occurred during 24 957 person-years of follow-up (median follow-up of 4.0 years). After adjustment for potential confounding variables, the multivariable hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident hypertension in premenopausal female participants with different green tea consumption frequencies were 1.00 (reference) for almost never, 0.84 (0.67, 1.07) for 1 cup per week, 1.02 (0.77, 1.35) for 2-6 cups per week, and 0.65 (0.44, 0.96) for ≥1 cup per day. Conclusions: The results from our prospective study indicate that the consumption of green tea is associated with a reduced risk of HTN in premenopausal women.