Men who drink at least 10 cups of green tea a day have lower cholesterol and may be less likely to suffer from heart disease, according to a Japanese study.

The findings lend support to previous test tube and animal studies that suggest chemicals in green tea may ward off heart disease.

The results will be published in Saturday’s issue of the British Medical Journal.

“The associations between green tea and serum total cholesterol … imply that green tea may act preventively against cardiovascular disease,” wrote Dr. K. Imai, one of the investigators from the Saitama Cancer Center Research Institute.