Consumption of Tea and its Relation to Risk of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the association of consumption of tea with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: A case control study was conducted at PSG Hospitals between 1 stJune 2017 and 1st July 2017. All those who had newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus and attended Department of Endocrinology for followup visit were the cases and the relatives accompanying them without the history of diabetes mellitus were the controls. Tea consumption and other dietary factors were elicited. The mediating factors studied were age, sex, Body Mass Index (BMI), educational levels, smoking status, alcohol consumption, family history of diabetes mellitus, potassium intake, magnesium intake and use of statins. Results: After adjusting the potential confounders, tea consumption was inversely associated with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus with odds ratio of 0.652 (95% CI = 0.43 – 0.98). The association was also observed with participants who consumed tea 3 or 4 cups per day compared to those who did not drink tea on a daily basis (odds ratio = 0.368, 95% CI = 0.14 – 0.96). However, the association was not observed among those who take 5 or more cups of tea per day (odds ratio = 0.328, 95% CI = 0.06 – 1.60).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that consumption of 3 to 4 cups of tea per day has a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The results from our study also suggest that adjusting for mediating factors did not alter the results and hence other unknown factors may explain inverse relation between tea consumption and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Further studies are warranted.