Originally published in icon Issue 1 2007
Bad news for Britons: adding milk to tea ruins the health benefits, according to a German Study (Jan 2006).
Tea provides complex polyphenol compounds which have positive health benefits linked to cancer protection and arterial strength. (GO TO: Green Tea)
Now scientists from the Charite University Hospital in Berlin, writing in the European Heart Journal, have shown that the cassein (milk protein) content of milk sticks to the catechin polyphenols in tea and prevents their action.
Sixteen healthy women, all over 50, were given black Darjeeling tea and had their arterial response measured by Ultrasound. The arteries relaxed. However the benefit disappeared when ten per cent of the total volume of tea drunk included milk.
Although the study did not cover green tea, the lead scientist felt that the ‘milk effect’ might be why Britons seem to derive less health benefit from their tea consumption. (Agency France – Presse)
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