I love studies that can benefit me. I drink at least two cups of green tea every day. Mostly, to control my Dr. Pepper intake, but also for its antioxidants. And according to a new Australian study, that's not the only reason to sip the hot brew.

Research suggests that older women who drink at least a cup a tea a day can help strengthen their hips. They studied 275 women and those who drank tea had a higher bone density for over four years. Most of the participants drank an average of three cups per day.

Drink up!

"Some tea may be potentially helpful," said Paul Brandt, an associate professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "One or two cups of tea a day probably couldn't hurt, but I wouldn't say that it absolutely will help. It's possible that it could prevent some loss."

Prior research has suggested that drinking tea may improve bone mineral density in people at risk for osteoporosis, but the findings are not conclusive. One study found that drinking green tea might help ease the inflammation and pain of rheumatoid arthritis.

Fractures, especially hip fractures associated with osteoporosis, are a major source of disability in postmenopausal women. Osteoporosis causes the bones to become fragile and more likely to break. Although it primarily affects older women, osteoporosis can affect others as well.

The new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, involved 1,500 elderly (70 to 85 years old) Australian women who participated in a five-year trial of the effect of calcium supplementation on osteoporotic hip fracture.

Information on tea consumption was collected at the beginning of the study for 275 participants, and all participants filled out a beverage consumption questionnaire at the end of the trial.

Bone mineral density at the hip was measured at years 1 and 5.

By the end of the study, bone mineral density at the hip was 2.8 percent greater in tea drinkers than in non-tea drinkers, the researchers found.