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Two or three cups of tea a day could keep osteoporosis at bay. Tea drinkers are less likely to break a hip than people who never touch the stuff, a study found, the Daily Mail reports.

Two to three cups a day seems to be particularly beneficial with men and women who drank this amount being 37 per cent less likely to suffer a hip fracture.

But not all drinks are equal. Coffee has no benefit, the journal Osteoporosis International reports.

It isn’t clear why tea is so good for the bones it may be that the plant chemicals in it boost the building of new bone.

The fluoride, calcium and other minerals in tea likely make bones denser and so stronger.

Whatever the reason, the finding is important.

Some 3 million Britons have osteoporosis and it takes a heavy toll on health, despite various bone-strengthening drugs being available.

Around 300,000 weakened wrist, hip, spine and other bones are broken each year and 1,150 Britons die each month after breaking a hip.

With many others losing their confidence and independence and hip fractures alone cost the country £2.3 billion a year in health and social care costs, anything that helps keep bone healthy could have a massive impact.

The Chinese researchers crunched together the findings of 14 previous studies into diet and risk of hip fracture.

Analysis of data provided by almost 200,000 people showed that tea drinkers were less likely to break a hip than others.

One to two cups a day cut the odds of a hip fracture by 28 per cent, two to three cups reduced it by 37 per cent and three to four cups by 21 per cent.

The researchers, from Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, don’t say why two or three cups a day is more beneficial than three or four.

However, they believe their figures may underestimate just how much tea strengthens bone.

Dr Tim Bond, of the industry-funded Tea Advisory Panel, said that tea contains more plant chemicals called flavonoids than coffee.

It is thought that these speed up the building of new bone while slowing down the erosion of existing bone.

Fluoride, calcium and other minerals in tea likely also strengthen bone.