Researchers led by Eric M. Matheson, MD, from the Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, looked into the anti-microbial effects of several commonly consumed plants and their extracts. They found that those who drink hot tea are half as likely to have methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in their nasal passages as those who don’t, giving us a safe, inexpensive, and easily accessible way to decrease MRSA.
The study included 5555 people that drunk either tea, iced tea, coffee or soda. They collected nasal cultures from all participants and assessed them for S. aureus, and compared this to their consumption levels of the above drinks, as well as other variables i.e. age, race, sex, poverty, health status, recent hospital stay, and antibiotic use.
They found those who consumed hot tea had less than half the likelihood of having MRSA nasal carriage compared with those who did not consume hot tea (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0.31 – 0.70). After adjusting for confounders, hot tea drinkers still had a lower likelihood of MRSA nasal carriage.
This is good news for all tea drinkers out there, we can enjoy that extra cup of tea over winter knowing that we are protecting ourselves immunity wise. For those who are visiting a friend in hospital what a perfect gift to give, the gift of tea, helping to get them better even quicker.
