Tea Advisory Panel

Posted date:

5th Feb '26

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A regular brew may help reduce inflammation, especially in people with existing high levels, suggests new study

A familiar British staple may have a newly uncovered health-related role. A new study suggests that regular black tea with or without milk, one of the nation’s most-consumed drinks, may help relieve conditions linked to long-term inflammation.

Co-author of the new study, Black Tea and Systemic Inflammation: A Narrative Review of Inflammatory Markers and Their Role in Disease Modulation,^[1] and Tea Advisory Panel (TAP; teaadvisorypanel.com) member, Dr Nisa Aslam says, “These latest research  findings could be relevant to conditions such as asthma, osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and more – all of which are driven, at least in part, by chronic inflammation.”

The new study brings together evidence from 22 previously published papers, including 11 reviews of previous studies and 11 clinical trials, examining how black tea affects markers of inflammation in the body.

Why the focus on black tea?
“Previous research has tended to focus on green tea, or to look at plant compounds more generally, rather than examining black tea on its own. As a result, evidence on black tea and inflammation has been scattered across the scientific literature,” says study co-author and TAP member Dr Emma Derbyshire. This review brings that evidence together, offering a clearer picture of how drinking  black tea – the most widely consumed tea among Brits – may be linked to inflammation in the body.

“While our research review is not suggesting that tea can replace medical treatment, it does add to growing evidence that the tea we drink dietetically every day, which is rich in plant compounds called polyphenols - such as flavan-3-ols - may influence how the body responds to inflammatory stress,” says Dr Nisa Aslam.

How could your cuppa help?
Black tea’s potential anti-inflammatory activity appears to stem from its rich profile of naturally occurring bioactive compounds. These include polyphenols like flavan-3-ols theaflavins, thearubigins, catechins and quercetin – plant chemicals that interact with the body’s immune and inflammatory pathways.

Researcher, chemist, and TAP co-author, Dr Tim Bond comments, “Tea polyphenols can help defend against harmful molecules that can damage cells, while also boosting the body’s own built-in antioxidant defences. They may also help to reduce activity in some of the main biological pathways that trigger and maintain the inflammatory response.”