Tea and bone health in Chinese adults
What it found
In a large study of Chinese adults, women who drank tea for many years had higher bone density measures, but men did not.
Stronger tea, with more tea leaves, showed neither benefit nor harm.
What they found
Studies in people
Bone density in women
Women who drank tea weekly for many years had higher heel bone density measures than women who never drank tea. This was seen for all three measures: BUA, SOS, and SI.
Bone density in men
In men, tea drinking was not linked to any difference in the three bone density measures. This was true for all groups of tea drinkers compared with men who never drank tea.
Amount of tea leaves
Among women who drank tea weekly for many years, there was no straight-line increase in bone density with the amount of tea leaves used. The SOS and SI measures were higher in those using 3.0 to 5.9 grams per day than in those using less than 3.0 grams, but the difference was no longer significant for those using 6.0 grams or more per day.
Type of tea
Women who usually drank oolong tea had higher SOS than those who drank green or black tea. Few women drank black tea regularly.
Years of tea drinking
People who had drunk tea for more than 20 years had slightly higher SOS and SI than those who had drunk tea for a shorter time.
Subgroups
The link between long-term weekly tea drinking and higher bone density measures was seen more clearly in people older than 70, those living in rural areas, and those who were less physically active.
What the authors conclude
“Prolonged moderate tea consumption benefited bone health in women but not in men.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that prolonged moderate tea consumption benefited bone health in women but not in men.
- They state that for stronger tea consumption with more tea leaves added, neither benefit nor harm to bone health was observed.
- They call for further studies in other populations, especially in those consuming semi-fermented or fully fermented tea, and on the potential influence of tea consumption during young adulthood on peak bone mass.
How it was done
Tea is a popular drink, but its effect on bone health is controversial. The authors wanted to see if the link differs between men and women, and whether stronger tea might harm bone health because of the caffeine in tea.
They studied 20,643 Chinese adults aged 38 to 86 who had answered questions about tea drinking twice, about 8 years apart. Bone density was measured once using ultrasound of the heel.
What it can’t tell you
- This study followed people over time and cannot prove that tea drinking causes better bone health in women.
- Tea consumption was self-reported, so some people may have been placed in the wrong group.
- Bone density was measured by ultrasound of the heel, not by the standard X-ray method.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Wellcome Trust; Medical Research Council (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None. ETHICAL APPROVAL: The Ethical Review Committee of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Beijing, China), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College (Beijing, China), and the Oxford Tropical Research Ethics Committee, University of Oxford (UK) approved the study.
- Authors work at
- Peking University Health Science Center, China; Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China; University of Oxford, UK
The paper
- Title
- Tea consumption and bone health in Chinese adults: a population-based study
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Li X, Qiao Y, Yu C, et al (2019). Tea consumption and bone health in Chinese adults: a population-based study. Osteoporosis international. doi:10.1007/s00198-018-4767-3Free full textPubMed 30443748DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error