In the morning when you wake up, then throughout the day, everyone has their favorite hot drink. But could the choice between tea and coffee have repercussions on the strength of our bones after menopause? This is the question addressed by a large study carried out by researchers at Flinders University in Australia and published in the journal Nutrients.
Researchers analyzed data from 9,704 women aged 65 and over over a ten-year period. During this study, participants self-assessed their tea and coffee consumption, while taking bone mineral density (BMD) exams at the hip and femoral neck. Two areas particularly exposed to the risk of fracture in the event of osteoporosis.
A slight advantage for tea drinkers
The results of this work indicate that tea consumers had better bone density at the hip compared to non-drinkers. “This could be due to compounds in tea, such as catechins, which stimulate bone cells and lead to an increase in bone mineral density. advances Ryan Liu, first author of the study.
For his part, co-author Enwu Liu specifies the extent of this effect. “The observed difference of 0.003 g/cm² at the hip corresponds to a delay of approximately one year in the age-related decrease in BMD in tea drinkers compared to non-drinkers..
Although low on an individual scale, this variation could represent a significant impact on public health. Moreover, he reminds us that there is ““There is not yet strong enough evidence to support an official clinical recommendation to drink tea solely for bone health.”
Beware of excess coffee
As for coffee lovers, the results are more mixed. Moderate consumption (two to three cups per day) has not been shown to have any negative impact on bone health. On the other hand, beyond five cups daily, researchers observed a lower BMD, particularly in women who also consumed alcohol.
“Laboratory studies have shown that the caffeine content of coffee interferes with calcium absorption and bone metabolism, although these effects are small and can be offset by the addition of milk.explains Ryan Liu.
Enwu Liu, however, qualifies the scope of these conclusions. “Our results don’t mean you should give up coffee or start drinking tea by the gallon. But they suggest that moderate tea consumption could be a simple way to support bone health, and very high coffee consumption would not be ideal.
The specialist’s analysis: a statistical signal without real clinical impact
If the study highlights a correlation, Professor Boris Hansel, nutritionist, invites us to take these conclusions with a lot of perspective.
“Generally speaking, coffee and tea are pretty powerful lifestyle markers, much like wine or fish. It is therefore impossible to truly isolate coffee and tea as factors independently associated with these indicators” he responds to True Medical, after analyzing the study.
The specialist raises a fundamental point about the interpretation of studies involving very large samples.
“If you show a signal when you have hundreds of thousands of people included in a study, it is a signal which can be statistically significant, but clinically not significant. The authors say it themselves, the relationship with the bone densitometry indicators is not a relationship which is clinically significant, we are not talking about fractures. We have a statistical signal because there are a lot of people in the cohort, but that does not mean that there is a practical interest for people”.
According to our expert, there is therefore no reason to suddenly change your habits based on this work.
“A statistical signal on a very contradictory subject does not mean that we are wrong, but that we do not currently have the means to assert causality. Despite this statistical relationship, honestly, I do not get anything out of it to change behavior.”
What should you remember for your daily life?
So there’s no need to ban your morning espresso or force yourself to drink green tea if you don’t like the taste. Professor Boris Hansel reminds us that the reasons for moderating one’s diet remain above all a question of overall common sense.
“We have other good reasons to have a moderate consumption of tea and coffee if we like it, in particular for reasons of nervousness or sleep. But someone who tolerates their five coffees a day very well, there is no reason to bother them with that. And you must never forget that if you scare someone into drinking less coffee, but they start drinking soda instead, you have lost.”
To preserve your skeleton after the age of 50, the fundamentals remain unchanged: sufficient calcium intake, good vitamin D status and regular physical activity practiced on a daily basis. And if you like tea or coffee, you can continue to enjoy it peacefully as part of a balanced lifestyle.