Milk Cancels Health Benefits of Tea
If you are a tea drinker - you may have heard about catechins. These compounds play a role in preventing cancer and heart disease. However a fascinating new study has shown that when milk is consumed with tea - the effect of the catechins is effectively canceled out.
"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," [...] Black tea significantly improved blood flow compared to drinking water but adding milk blunted the effect of the tea. (via Reuters).Tea is arguably one of the most popular drinks in the world, and most people take their tea will milk. Could this be having an impact on heart disease rates?
If in doubt... develop a taste for green tea.
Milk is currently (as it has always been) a hot topic when it comes to health and weight loss.
Health effects of tea
Tea comes in six varieties: white, green, yellow, oolong, black, and fermented tea. Tea is consumed all over the world, especially in China where it is part of traditional Chinese medicine.
Health effects associated with tea (pardon the pun) stem from tea's high concentration of antioxidants. Antioxidants are plant chemicals that help block free radicals in the body. And antioxidants have been linked to decreased risk of heart disease and cancer.
And while still a subject of debate, consuming tea has even been associated with preventing dental cavities. However, tea does contain caffeine, which should be considered when drinking tea regularly.
Health effects of milk
Milk is also consumed in many parts of the world, especially in European and Western nations. Finland, Sweden, and Ireland are the top three consumers of milk, per capita.
Milk and dairy products are best known for being good sources of dietary calcium and vitamin D. Milk also contains magnesium, potassium, as well as vitamins A, D, and K.
But milk is also heavy in saturated fat and consuming too much saturated fat is a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Most health experts recommend drinking fat-free or skim-milk.
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59 Comments
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Created / Updated: December 7, 2011
Ew, gross...who drinks tea with milk in it?? That's disgusting. I take my tea plain with some lemon, maybe. I really hope lemons don't cancel out the catechin benefits as well.
Reply@ Spectra
ReplyI think it's a bit childish to say ewww to milk in tea. Many people all over the world drink milk in there tea especially with black tea (flavored like masala tea or ginger spice tea). it's just as common as Coffe with Cream & sugar.
Milk helps counteract the bitterness of tea & provides a smooth taste.
A very famous tea in Pakistan is called gulabi chai, that has no flavor without milk. Also Dood pati (milk & tea) are very famous in Pakistan & here in USA.
ReplyI dont think this research is actually useful- They need to research that if you drink tea w/o milk it causes under eye cirlces. it's too much acidity going in your system w/o milk balancing it.
Good points, Sarah
ReplyI am sipping a cup of English breakfast tea with a cloud of fat free milk as many people do in England each day. It tastes great and I don't believe one second that the milk cancels out the benefit of the tea.
ReplySpiced Chai Tea Latte's contains milk.
ReplyDefinitely not gross.
Who? Uh, the entire world, that's who. Ignorance must be so freeing.
Reply"most people take their tea with milk." -- I don't think so, at least not from what I've observed. We have a lot of tea drinkers here at the workplace -- black tea, green tea and even some white tea. But it's only some of the coffee drinkers that even put creamer in.
So this news research isn't really all that meaningful anyway.
ReplyIt is not meaningful if you live in the US, but in many other places people add milk to their tea. However I agree with you that this finding is not meaningfull in a sense that it is completely unfounded. Why would a touch of milk cancel out the benefit of tea? it is simply absurd. Why can the benefit of milk (vitamin D and so on) be added to the benefit of tea?
ReplyLynda,
ReplyWhat godforesaken corner of the US do you live in? I've lived in America all my life and have rarely noticed any tea drinkers who drink thier tea without milk! It's about in the same ratio as those hardcore coffee drinkers who only drink it black vs the milk and sugar crowd.
I can not fathom how someone could drink tea without some kind of milk in it. Not all US citizens take their tea with just sugar. I say this not only from my own experience but from my Sister's who worked in a coffee/tea shoppe. I used to hang out and people watch there, I know where in what I speak of.
I guess I live in the same neighborhood as Lynda cause I can't remember the last time I saw anyone put milk in tea.
But then I don't get out much :-)
ReplyWow, I am drinking some right now and I live in the US!!! I guess I am weird, but don't knock it until you've tried it.
ReplyMilk tea is actually a very popular drink in China. Ever heard of bubble tea? The original flavor was milk tea with tapioca.
ReplyIf "America" goes for the whole continent, I have also liven in it ALL my life and I am one of the people that drinks black tea with milk, and I love it. Thanks for the people that don't believe that "finding", makes me feel much better :) But I am now more aware of the benefits of green tea. During my stay in the US I have also notice A LOT of people in NYC drink black tea with milk. Spice black tea (known as "chai") is also very popular in the "latte" form.
ReplyCould there be a difference between your workplace and the rest of the world?
In which city is your workplace?
ReplyI don't see what is so weird and disgusting about taking milk with tea in it. Masala chai, or black tea with spices in it, is found nearly all over the Indian subcontinent. (that chai trend...yeah that's indian.....it's called masala chai)
I have many Persian and Middle Eastern friends that take black tea with milk and cardamom in it as well. The mere fact that I mentioned cardamom means that there will probably be another " ....ewww gross who does THAT?" commment. Brits take milk with tea. What is so weird about this?
Spectra and Lynda do you have many foreign friends? They could really teach you new things...but then you'd probably think anything different than your norm was gross or disgusting.
Reply@ Raven
ReplyThe trend?
People in China have been drinking tea for centuries, & before it got to India it was imported from British. & many pure vegans were against drinking tea b/c they felt it was killing the plant.
So the trend didn't start there.
Daven,
Yes, in fact we have lots of Indian foreign workers here, but they too drink just straight black tea, at least at the workplace.
ReplyGuess they've been in the U.S. too long, eh. :)
A few have even adopted the American unhealthy way of eating too, and look just like a lot of the Americans now, more overweight, etc.
That's interesting. I never put milk in my tea - however I am hearing a lot about the benefits of coffee also. I wonder if it applies to that?
ReplyI have friends that are Chinese and they drink their tea black. I definitely think drinking it black is more common than drinking it with milk in it. There may be some cultures that drink it that way, but I don't think most people do.
BTW...I do know what cardamom is and putting that in tea makes sense, because it's a spice.
ReplyMilk does not go in just any tea...for instance never in Japanese green tea, chinese tea such as gunpowder, or Jasmine tea. Milk goes best in Indian tea or English breaksfast tea.
ReplyNever in Japanese Tea? Here in Southern California, green tea (both Chinese or Japanese) with milk is very common and it is one of my favorite drinks. It has a difference taste than using British tea. And even resturants in little Toyko sell them also.
ReplyWilla,
ReplyYou have never been to Japan now have you? There it's well known that dairy and green tea go well together.
Maybe not in a traditional tea ceremony, but the in the cafes it's served much like how AK described it in the real Tokyo too. Also you haven't lived until you've tasted fresh made green tea ice cream! Yummmy!
Hi! I'll weigh in on drinking tea with milk. It's actually quite yummy! I've found that it cuts back on the strong taste (acidic?) of the darker teas and mellows it out a bit. I also spent some time in Ireland and they definitely take their tea with cream and I loved it. I drink green tea too - sans cream - but I've never drank black teach or English breakfast or any of those for their health benefits as much for the caffeine and as an alternative to coffee.
ReplyAnd cream (heavy wipping one) does not contain caseins, so there is no bad proteins to bind good healthy guys. No sugar for me, the cream itself is sweet enough. I am 100% for tea with cream.
Replyadding milk to your te cancels out the health benefits of the tea, i have been drinking milk with my tea for as long as i can remember but now that i know the effects of it i try to exclude milk. it tastes worse without it though!
ReplyWhen we were in England a couple years back we noticed it was quite usual and expected for people to have milk in their tea. And no wonder, for we found they brewed the tea very strongly. At one B&B, the little 4-cup tea pot had 4 tea bags in it, and it must have steeped for at least 15 minutes (I would have used 1-2 tea bags for 4 minutes, max). The longer you steep your tea, the more of the bitter tannins are disolved. Then you might as well drink coffee.
ReplyWell, it's been thought for a long time that caffeine in tea and coffee prohibits the absorption of calcium from milk, so I guess the two just don't compliment each other at all. Personally I wouldn't be without milk in coffee or black tea (which I very rarely drink anyway), but for green tea it has to be lemon or nothing
ReplyAnother thing that apparently lessens the benefits of tea is time, the antioxidants and other 'goodies' disappear within 18 months of harvest with correct storage, quicker if the tea is exposed to air, so in order to reap the benfits not only do you have to drink it without milk, you also have to ensure it is as fresh as possible.
ReplyI am not so sure if they study means anything at all. The people seemed to get health benefits from the hot water as well. Anything that cooled down the water would most likely remove that effect such as milk, rice milk, soy milk.
You usually can get health benefits from the milk as well so does the tea cancel out those benefits as well?
ReplyI, too, never put milk in my tea. Yuck!! Unfortunately I do usually have sugar in it... :-\
ReplyI put milk and honey in this black chai tea that I drink but thats it.
ReplyI have been drinking hot tea with milk since I was very young. My Grammy would make it for us, teapot and all, when she visited. Milk and sugar, it's the best.
Today I only use milk, but one of my favorite drinks is hot tea with milk and sugar.
Guess it's the English in me. My grandparents and my mom were all English.
Reply