A healthy diet: black tea, onion juice, and low-processed foods

Researchers from the US National Cancer Institute asked almost half a million British adults about their black tea drinking habits and then surveyed them for up to 14 years. They took into account risk factors such as health, socioeconomics, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, age, race and gender. According to the study, the consumption of two or more cups of tea per day reduced the risk of death from any cause by between 9 and 13% compared to people who did not drink tea. The temperature of the drink and the addition of milk or sugar did not change the results. Higher tea consumption was also associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

According to researchers from, among others, Nigeria’s Institute of Education Delta State University Abraka, onion extract can “significantly reduce” high blood sugar and total cholesterol levels when given together with metformin, an anti-diabetic drug. Studies to date have been carried out on rats in which diabetes was induced, and on healthy animals.

Two studies in the US and Italy have confirmed that consuming large amounts of highly processed foods is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, bowel cancer and premature death. The study included around 230,000 patients. In case of Italian residents, the results showed that those with the least healthy diet were 19% more likely to die from any cause and 32% more likely to die from heart disease compared to those following the healthiest diet.