March 26/London/Times of India -- Health benefits of tea are many. Now, add one more to the long list - drinking two cups of the hot beverage everyday could boost a woman's chances of having a baby, says a new study. Researchers at Boston University have found that woman are 27% more likely to become pregnant if they drink tea regularly compared with those who do not. In fact, they say the antioxidants in the beverage actually aid fertility.

Somewhat troubling, the same study found consuming two fizzy drinks daily can reduce a woman's prospects of conceiving -- whether the drink is a diet or a sugary version , the Daily Mail reported.

In fact, the study has found that women who drink soft drinks twice a day can reduce their chances of becoming pregnant by 20%. However, there is no effect on the chances of pregnancy for women who prefer to drink coffee. The researchers have based their findings on an analysis of a group of 3,600 women who were actively trying for a baby over a period of one year.

Lead author professor Elizabeth Hatch said, "We found that women who drank tea two or three times a day did have a 27% increased chance of becoming pregnant. We don't know how they took the tea or if they added milk or lemon, but they had this increased chance of getting pregnant over women who did not drink tea at all. It may be linked to caffeine. I think drinking two or three cups of tea a day for anyone wishing to get pregnant will be fine. There may be other factors. The tea drinkers tended to be older women and there may be something else in their lifestyle that helped."

 From the March 26, 2012, Prepared Foods’ Daily Update