Milk Cancels Health Benefits of Tea

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.

"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.

I 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.

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.
Guess 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?

I 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.

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.

When 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.

Well, 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

Another 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.

Lynda said:
"most people take their tea with milk." -- I don't think so, at least not from what I've observed.[...]

I 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?

I, too, never put milk in my tea. Yuck!! Unfortunately I do usually have sugar in it... :-\

I put milk and honey in this black chai tea that I drink but thats it.

I 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.

All normal people drink tea with milk.

I LOVE tea, and have had tea literally all my life and before since my Mom is a tea drinker. My whole family are faithful teaholics and not ashamed of that fact.I do like my morning, breakfast tea with milk and sugar, and after that the tea through out the day is usually without. How about you not make judgmental(not to mention unkind) commentaries. I have my tastes and you have yours. That is why they ask "Cream and sugar" or "Lemon and sugar"....We tea folks are thought to be the cultured, lets keep it that way.Please.

Actually this is partially true. Black tea is usually drank around the world with milk. India & China the 2 great tea powers drink it that way as well as the UK & Ireland the 2 great per capita tea powers.

Green tea is usually drank straight.

I also have my tea with milk, whether it is the Indian Chai style or the English breakfast tea. It is a matter of each person's style and let us please not spoil it for others by comments like "Yuck! .." and "Ewww.."

I love black tea with only a tiny bit of sugar and no milk. My UK friends all prefer milk, and a rare few like sugar and milk. My English friends usually don't drink green tea. They were shocked at the multitude of teas I keep in my cabinet. Red, black, oolong, white, green--bagged and loose. Loose tea isn't commonly used in the UK.

As far as how strong my friends drank it? I would time my steeping with a timer for 3 minutes. They would just estimate for about a minute or so. They also wouldn't always use boiling water and would make tea with water that had been sitting for a half an hour. I was horrified! But then when I made tea for them, they were amazed at the difference in the flavor. Many people (in the US) will leave the bags or leaves in far too long, allowing those bitter tannins to be released. This is usually true for iced tea. Then they "must" put tons of sugar and all sorts of other things in their tea to kill the bitterness.

But I also would use loose or bagged tea and would make a pot of tea instead of several cups with bags. I was told that most people in their circles (in the UK) didn't do that anymore and that only older people use teapots.

i like grean tea to much because it is very usefull to health

What about tea with heavy cream which does not contain any protein(casein)? I can't stand milk, and respectively tea with milk, but srong tea with heavy wipping cream tastes exceptionally good. I don't belive that cream binds anything in tea. It might even improve absorbtion of some nutrients.

No sugar, just heavy cream.

what about soymilk?

Very interesting question Tori! I've actually been wondering abt that a lot lately: can you mix soy-milk with hot drinks such as tea and coffee? Does it taste good!? I'd love it if someone could answer that (if out of experience, I hope the exeprience was not too bad, haha ;) )

So basically...just about everyone in this thread feels so passionately about their tea that none of you really care about this study...if you dispute that milk cancels out the beneficial catechins then do your own research or something...but there is no need to sit around and bicker about what tea needs milk and who in which country is more cultured or knowledgable and blah blah blah...

guys i think you should re-read the article again.i belive what has been writen in this article.am african and i noticed each time i drink milk i have pain in the sides of my stomach.
it is why i bought a pint and i thought let find out something about milk.i belive the writer that black people should not take milk.so if one has allegies then dont take it,if it gives you good health its your in food group.we are all different.
its true most africans dont drink tea without milk.so it varies too
Afro G

You guys ar so funny..."What do you mean ewwwww, I like milk in my tea" It sounds like a monty python sketch.

I gave up dairy and like So with the strong black tea I drink every morning.

I use Westsoy organic unsweetend...it is delicious. You have to be careful as there is so much sugar in most soy products. This Westsoy is onlt Soy and water, so very pure.

I drink Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Jasmine, Green, various herbal and/or berry teas, and Thai tea all with milk.

Chamomile, I drink without anything not even sugar, because I treat it as a bedtime drink.

Weather "adding milk blunted the effect of the tea." is true or not, the fact remains most teas are a superiorly healthy drink, compared to soda, sugary 10%-30% fruit juices, coffee and the like.

Just a thought but would the whole milk/tea inter-mingling health benefit destructing problem also go for, i dont know, eating ice cream right after enjoying a nice warm cup of oolong tea?