Obesity and diabetes, called in the past “rich men disease”, are one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century. Obesity, being a gateway to diabetes is a global problem now. Over 300 million people worldwide have diabetes and this number will most likely will rise to 500 million within one generation. Diabetes is at crisis levels; three out of four people with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries. Many medicaments to treat diabetes are on the market, but these are out of reach for many people living in poverty. These people cannot afford buying insulin and/or other medicaments but they are instead using traditional folk remedies. We have reviewed and evaluated black tea to find out if there is any scientific merit to the claims to alleviate symptoms of diabetes. There are both studies showing anti-diabetic properties of black tea or its ingredients and some that do not. These differences may be related to lack of uniformity in the completed studies rather than absence of anti-diabetic activity. Nevertheless, the final conclusion could only be drawn after completion of well controlled clinical studies.