Drinking This Daily May Lower Your Type 2 Diabetes Risk By 47%

A new study presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes found that adults living in China who drank "dark tea" daily had a 53% lower risk for prediabetes and a 47% reduced risk for type 2 diabetes compared to non-tea drinkers.

For this study, researchers observed 1,923 adults (men and women) between the ages of 20 and 80—some of whom were already living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. They examined associations between participants' tea habits and their blood sugar levels (as measured via urine samples), ruling out compounding factors, including genetic diabetes risk.

What exactly is "dark tea"?

Contrary to what you might assume, dark tea is not exactly the same as black tea. Dark tea is made from the leaves of Camellia Sinensis, like black tea, but it undergoes a unique microbial fermentation process, which could be the reason behind this noteworthy health benefit. The most common type of dark tea is Pu’erh tea—a longtime staple in China that is now widely available in the U.S.

The study was observational, so there’s no direct explanation as to why this significant difference in prediabetes and type 2 diabetes risk exists, though researchers suggest it may be caused by the bioactive compounds in dark tea directly or indirectly influencing glucose secretion in the kidneys. More research is needed to confirm the findings in other populations as well.

To be clear, the findings were most significant for daily dark tea drinkers, so there’s no saying an occasional beverage would have much of an impact.

As mentioned above, Pu’erh is somewhat popular in the United States but may run a bit more expensive than other types of tea given the complex fermentation and manufacturing process. A couple options include the Mountain Rose Herbs Pu’Erh Tea and Jinglong Tea Factory Pu’Erh Tea–both of which provide fermented leaves right from the Yunnan province in China, where Pu'erh is a delicacy. You can also find Pu’erh tea at local herb stores, tea shops, and plenty of grocery stores.

This research provides a great reason to start a daily tea ritual with a brew you enjoy (especially if it replaces sweet drinks that spike blood sugar). But of course, watching your beverages is just one way to prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes. Here are a few more strategies for keeping blood sugar balanced daily.