A new study from Flinders University has found that what older women drink every day—especially coffee and tea—might affect their bone health.
The research, published in the journal Nutrients, followed nearly 10,000 women aged 65 and older for 10 years to find out if their daily coffee or tea habits were linked to changes in bone strength.
Bone health is very important as we get older. Osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones, affects one in three women over 50 and causes millions of fractures worldwide every year.
Because coffee and tea are two of the most popular drinks in the world, scientists wanted to learn how these beverages might influence the risk of weak bones.
The researchers looked at how much tea and coffee women drank over the years and used advanced scans to measure the strength of their bones—especially in the hip area, where breaks are common in older adults.
The results showed that women who drank tea had slightly stronger bones in their hips compared to women who didn’t drink tea. The difference wasn’t huge, but it was still meaningful, especially when thinking about large groups of people. Even a small improvement in bone strength could help prevent many fractures in the long run.
Coffee gave more mixed results. Women who drank two to three cups of coffee a day didn’t seem to harm their bones. But those who drank more than five cups a day had weaker bones. This suggests that drinking a lot of coffee every day might be bad for bone health.
The study also found that coffee’s effects were worse in women who drank more alcohol over their lifetime. Meanwhile, tea seemed to help women who were overweight or had obesity.
So why might tea be good for bones? The answer may lie in natural compounds called catechins, which are found in tea. These compounds may help the body build bone and slow down bone loss.
Coffee, on the other hand, contains caffeine, which may reduce how much calcium your body absorbs and affect bone health. But adding milk to your coffee can help reduce this effect.
Adjunct Associate Professor Enwu Liu, who helped lead the study, says that enjoying a cup of tea each day could be a simple way for older women to support their bone health. He also said that while moderate coffee drinking seems safe, drinking too much—especially for women who also drink alcohol—might not be the best idea.
The researchers were careful to say that their results don’t mean people need to completely change their habits. You don’t need to stop drinking coffee or start drinking large amounts of tea. But the findings suggest that having a moderate amount of tea each day might be one small step toward keeping your bones strong as you age.
Calcium and vitamin D are still the most important nutrients for bone health. But this study shows that what you drink might make a difference too. For older women, that daily cup of tea might do more than offer comfort—it could also help protect your bones.
If you care about bone health, please read studies that plant-based diets can harm your bone health without these nutrients, and this bone problem may strongly increase COVID-19 death risk.
For more health information, please see recent studies that too much of this vitamin may increase your risk of bone fractures, and results showing this type of exercise may protect your bone health, slow down bone aging.
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