Few of us would refuse a good cup of tea. But over the years, daily decisions between tea and coffee could make a big difference to women’s bone health, a recent study suggests.
Osteoporosis is a common concern among women over 50.
One in three people will be diagnosed with the disease, which occurs when the body fails to replace old bones as they break down. This makes bones brittle and weak, making them more prone to fractures and harder to heal.
Older women are particularly at risk of osteoporosis because levels of estrogen, a hormone that supports bone metabolism, drop after menopause. Surgical procedures to remove a person’s ovaries have a similar effect.
Public health researchers from Flinders University in Australia analyzed the tea and coffee drinking habits of about 9,700 American women aged over 65, as part of a larger osteoporosis study to be published in 2025.
Participants self-reported their trends in surveys conducted four times over a period of about 10 years.
The study also collected data on women’s bone health, measuring bone mineral density (BMD) in the hip and the narrow part of the femur’s connection to the hip, using a pair of X-ray beams to infer the mineral content of the bone.
))>Women who regularly drank tea tended to have slightly but significantly higher hip BMD than those who did not drink tea.
This may be because compounds in tea, called catechins, may stimulate the cells responsible for building our bones.
“Even small improvements in bone density can translate into fewer fractures in large groups,” Flinders epidemiologist Enwu Liu said.
Tea consumption also appears to have a particularly beneficial effect in obese women.
Coffee habits, on the other hand, have had mixed results. Women who drank more than five cups of coffee per day were more likely to have lower BMD, consistent with studies suggesting that caffeine negatively affects calcium absorption.
Drinking any amount of coffee was also associated with reduced femur BMD in women who drank greater amounts of alcohol over their lifetime, suggesting that the effect of each medication on bone health may be enhanced when combined.
It’s important to note that the women in the study were mostly white, so the results may not be generalizable to broader populations.
“Our results don’t mean you should give up coffee or start drinking tea by the gallon,” Liu explained. “But they suggest that moderate tea consumption might be a simple way to support bone health, and that very high coffee consumption might not be ideal, particularly for women who drink alcohol.
“While calcium and vitamin D remain the cornerstones of bone health, the contents of your cup could also play a role. For older women, enjoying a cup of tea daily may be more than a comforting ritual, it could be a small step towards stronger bones,” he said.
The research is published in Nutrients.
This article was fact-checked by Rebecca Dyer and edited by Rebecca Dyer. Although we are proud of our process, we are only human. If you spot an error, please let us know.
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