A study done by Dr. Michael Gaziano, a heart specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, was presented at a Royal Society of Medicine conference in London.
His findings were that by drinking at least one cup of tea per day, one could cut the risk of heart attack by an amazing 44 percent.
Another interesting aspect to this study was that it concerned black teas only, with or without milk or sugar, loose or in tea bags, iced or hot. The particular constituents that seem to be responsible are the flavonoids, which are especially strong antioxidants. These antioxidants are particularly strong in Oolong and Black teas, but are hardly found at all in the greens.
The study examined 340 men and women who had suffered heart attacks and matched them by age, sex and neighborhood with people who had never had heart attacks. It then investigated their coffee and tea drinking habits over a year. It was adjusted for other factors such as smoking, exercise, alcohol intake and family history.