At this week's Annual Meeting of the American College of Cardiology, researchers looked at how tea helps the heart. Myron Gross, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota, presented his findings as to the role tea plays on the platelets.
Platelets are responsible for causing damage to the cells that line the inside of the blood vessels.
Endothelial cells produce a number of factors that contribute to blood flow and prevent blood clots, inflammation and abnormal thickening of the vessel wall. When these are damaged by platelets, the results are heart attacks and stroke. Therefore, the goal for healthy blood vessels would be to control the function of the platelets. According to Gross's findings, this is how black tea provides its beneficial effects. They also had dietary restrictions which prevented them from eating high quantities of food with compounds similar to those found in tea.