Brits drinking 4 cups of black tea daily for 6 weeks may sound like a lot of going to the loo.

But new well-done tea and stress research shows 20 percent lower (stress hormone) cortisol levels less than an hour after a stress, with less sticky blood platelets–meaning a lower risk of clots and heart attacks–and greater relaxation.

“Tea, therefore, appears to influence the effectiveness of post-stress recovery, rather than the magnitude of stress responses themselves.”

Is it the catechins, polyphenols, flavonoids, caffeine, amino acids or the taste? Is it tea theanine, or the EGCG which is sedative? Whatever it is, tea helped these stressed men to recover more quickly from stress, and if it is habit-forming, well, that may be a good thing.