Why You Shouldn’t Add Milk To Your Tea
Posted January 10, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Some people squirt in some lemon, others use honey and some enhance the flavour of a cup of tea with a few cubes of sugar, but according to a recent study, you may want to think twice before you add some milk.
Health experts agree that tea has a number of health benefits, including protecting against heart disease and some cancers (see below).
But a recent study conducted by German scientists found that all of the positive health effects of sipping tea are erased if you add milk to your cup.
Researchers at the Charite Hospital at the University of Berlin found that adding milk cancels tea’s ability to fight off cardiovascular disease.
“The beneficial effects of drinking black tea are completely prevented by the addition of milk,” said Dr. Verena Stangl, a cardiologist at the hospital.
“If you want to drink tea to have the beneficial health effects you have to drink it without milk. That is clearly shown by our experiments.”
The team’s findings will be published in the European Heart Journal.
The researchers tested the health effects of drinking boiled water and tea with and without milk on 16 healthy women. They measured artery function in the forearm two hours after drinking tea using ultrasound and found that black tea improved blood flow compared to those who drank the beverage with milk.
Scientists found that proteins in milk called caseins decrease a compound in tea called catechins, which boost protection against heart disease.
Tests on rats had similar results.
Tea is second to water in worldwide consumption and so any positive health benefits could have huge public health implications. This research could explain why heart disease and stroke rates have not dropped in Britain, where tea is usually served with milk.
This study and others just exemplify what tea experts and lovers already knew.
“If you drink tea, really you can prevent cancer,” said Nakul Dey, the tea sommelier at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto.
Others just like the way the warm beverage makes them feel when they sip it.
“It definitely makes you more relaxed, I find It very soothing,” tea lover Mary Steadman said during tea time at the Windsor Arms Hotel Wednesday.
According to the Tea Council of Canada, we Canucks sip about 7 million cups of the brewed herbs every day.
The organization says there are some 3,000 different types of tea from several countries around the world.
To learn more about the different types of tea, click here.
Tea drinking dates back some 5,000 years and over the centuries sipping the beverage has been associated with good health.
The Tea Council of Canada says a fresh brewed cup of black or green tea contains antioxidants called flavonoids, which help fight cancer. This important compound is found in common blends like Orange Pekoe, Earl Grey and English Breakfast.
For more information on tea’s cancer-fighting abilities, click here.
Sipping tea is also believed to reduce the risk of some cancers, including stomach, lung, colon, and skin and could reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
And antioxidants found in green tea have been shown to protect the brain and fight off the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. To read more, click here.
For the Tea Council of Canada’s advice on how to include more tea in your day, click here.
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