Tea, Berries and Apples May Lower

Blood Pressure
Exercise 1
Vocabulary
cardiovascular
Adjective
ˌkɑːrdioʊˈvæskjələr
relating to the heart and blood vessels
Smoking increases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
composition
Noun
ˌkɑːmpəˈzɪʃən
the parts or ingredients that something is made of
The scientists are analyzing the composition of the substance.
misreport
Verb
ˌmɪsrɪˈpɔːrt
to give a false or inaccurate account or description of something
The newspaper misreported a number of important details in the story.
biomarker
Noun
baɪəʊmɑːrkər
something in the body that can indicate the presence of a condition, disease, etc.
Doctors may be able to use the recently discovered  biomarker to detect
certain types of cancer.
cancel out
Phrasal Verb
ˈkænsʌl aʊt
to stop the effect of something
The cost of upgrading the equipment in the factory would  cancel out the
benefits.
Exercise 2
Article
Tea, Berries and Apples May Lower Blood Pressure
A new study in the UK has found that people with higher levels of flavan-3-ol in
their diet tend to have lower blood pressure. Flavan-3-ol is a natural compound
found in foods and drinks like apples, berries, tea, red wine and cocoa.

It was already known that flavan-3-ols are associated with better

cardiovascular health, but previous studies have relied on participants' food
diaries and general food composition data to estimate the amount of flavan-3-
ols consumed.
Participants often misreport what they eat, and food composition data only
gives an average amount of flavan-3-ols, resulting in high levels of
inaccuracy. The amount of flavan-3-ols in food can vary significantly, with the
amount in a cup of black tea ranging from about 5 milligrams to almost 100
milligrams, for example.

The new study, published in Scientific Reports used data collected from over
25,000 people in Norfolk between 1993 and 2016.  In addition to food diaries,
the researchers measured biomarkers in the participants' urine that showed the
amount of flavan-3-ols they had consumed.

The researchers found that flavan-3-ol was associated with lower blood
pressure even after accounting for other factors like weight and
smoking. However, they did not find that people who had more flavan-3-ols in
their diet were significantly less likely to have cardiovascular disease or die.

The study's lead author, professor Gunter Kuhnle from the University of
Reading, told The Guardian that it is important to consider the way flavan-3-ols
are consumed, and that foods high in sugar and fat would cancel out any
benefits.

"Sometimes I see people saying you should consume chocolate to get healthy
flavan-3-ols, but to get to the amount you need to find an effect, you would
have to eat so much … you just couldn't," he said.

The researchers also found almost no relationship between people's food

diaries and their actual measured levels of flavan-3-ol.