Having black tea and citrus fruits daily – and red wine occasionally – may lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer, research shows.

Women who consume food and drinks high in flavonols (found in tea, red wine, apples and grapes) and flavanones (found in citrus fruit and juices) are less likely to develop the disease, it added.

“We found that women who consume foods high in two sub-groups of powerful substances called flavonoids – flavonols and flavanones – had a significantly lower risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer,” explained lead researcher professor Aedin Cassidy from University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School.

For the results, the team studied the dietary habits of 171,940 women aged between 25 and 55 for more than three decades.

“This is the first large-scale study looking into whether habitual intake of different flavonoids can reduce the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer,” Cassidy added.

Simple changes in food intake could have an impact on reducing ovarian cancer risk.

“In particular, just a couple of cups of black tea every day was associated with a 31 percent reduction in risk,” Cassidy noted.

The paper was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

BDST: 1710 HRS, Nov-15, 2014