Tea and Coffee May Help Ward Off Superbug MRSA

There's always a good reason to drink coffee or hot tea.

According to a new government study in which 5,555 Americans were sampled, coffee and hot tea drinkers have double the advantage over non-drinkers in warding off superbug MRSA in their nostrils.

The study, published in the July/August issue of Annals of Family Medicine, found that about one percent of the U.S. population is a nasal or skin carrier of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Those who consumed hot tea had less than half the likelihood of having MRSA nasal carriage compared with those who did not consume hot tea, and similar findings were reported for coffee.

Lead researcher Eric Methoson of the University of South Carolina writes Hot tea and coffee have been found to have antimicrobial properties. Consumption of hot tea or coffee is associated with a lower likelihood of MRSA nasal carriage.

The study's effort to both prevent and treat MRSA, researchers have examined the antimicrobial effects of several commonly consumed plants and plant extracts, wrote the authors. What remains unclear is whether tea and coffee have systemic antimicrobial activity when consumed orally as beverages.