An epidemiological (population) study published in the December 2005 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, adds more evidence that enjoying a cup or two of tea each day may significantly lower a woman's risk of ovarian cancer.

Data from numerous other studies has suggested that both green and black tea may offer protection against various cancers, with tea polyphenols thought to be the most likely protective agents. In this research, Susanna Larsson and Alicja Wolk from the National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden, decided to look specifically at the relationship between tea consumption and ovarian cancer.

Participants in their study were 61,057 Swedish women aged 40-76 years who were in the Swedish mammography cohort and had completed a validated 67 item food frequency questionnaire at baseline (between 1987-1990), after which the women were followed an average of 15.1 years.

Analysis of the data found that even women who averaged less than one cup of tea per day had an 18% lower risk of ovarian cancer than non-tea-drinkers.

Those who drank one cup per day had a 24% lower risk, and those who drank two or more cups of tea per day had a 46% lower risk of ovarian cancer than non-tea-drinkers.

Each additional cup of tea per day was associated with an 18% lower risk of ovarian cancer. Although higher tea consumption was generally associated with other health-promoting behaviors, including higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, when compared to the lifestyle behaviors of those who seldom or never drank tea, the large drop in ovarian cancer risk seen as tea consumption increased does suggest that tea is likely to offer significant protection.