Can’t decide between coffee and tea? It’s not a problem I’ve ever experienced, thank you very much. But if are having problems deciding between these two beverages it may help to know that both of them have been found to possibly lower the risk of getting a brain tumor.

Both coffee and tea have been found by researchers to possibly have this beneficial effect. So say a sizable group of researchers from the United States, England and various other points in Europe. The study was conducted on a rather respectable number of Europeans – about a half million in all – and found, as did a similar study in the United States, that drinking tea and coffee amy lead to a lessened risk of glioma, one of the most common of all malignant brain cancers.

The lead researcher in the study, Dominique Michaud, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, did caution that the results of the study were preliminary. In addition, brain tumors are relatively rare. But if you’re drinking tea already this is just one more in a growing list of reasons to keep enjoying it.

The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and discovered that those who drank at least 3.5 ounces of coffee or tea per day were one-third less likely to be diagnosed with glioma those who drank less than that or none at all. Additional studies have also found that caffeine, which is, of course, present in both tea and coffee, could help slow the growth of a type of glioma called glioblastoma. It’s also worth noting that both beverages contain antioxidants that are thought to help protect cells from damage that might lead to cancer.

For more on this research refer to this Reuters article or the findings, as published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Don’t forget to check out William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks!