Having tea with milk or cream in it is not quite as popular in the US as it is abroad, but the practice is far from uncommon. Milk mellows the flavor of black teas and rounds them into a mild, satisfying drink. It seems that the addition of milk might also reduce the effects of some of the flavonoids in tea, so that those who take tea with milk are not getting all the "protective effects against heart disease" that they would be getting if they took their tea black.
This conclusion was published in the European Heart Journal just this month. The study looked at the ability of women's arteries to relax and expand after drinking tea, either with or without milk. The otherwise healthy participants showed a significant improvement in their blood flow after drinking plain tea, while the tea with 10% skim milk showed no benefits. Similar experiments were conducted on rats with the same results.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-25-2007 @ 2:31PM
Richard Ahlquist said...
Keep in mind as well, that studies have shown calcium in conjunction with the alkalinity in tea can contribute to the formation of stones.
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1-25-2007 @ 2:47PM
wynk said...
Take that, Brits! I'm a purist when it comes to my tea...the natural taste of the tea (assuming it's full-leaf, of course) is what I want, not something watered-down and overly sweetened.
And now I may have science to back it up. >:)
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1-25-2007 @ 2:53PM
Sam said...
I agree for the most part, Wynk. Though, I do find that with some teas I like just a bit of lemon *but no sugar*.
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1-25-2007 @ 2:56PM
Ellen said...
I have to say with a small sample size of only 16 women tested I am skeptical of this study.
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1-25-2007 @ 9:04PM
Kiwi Carlisle said...
My doctor tells me to always be skeptical of very small studies. As Ellen says, there were only 16 participants. Wait until there's solid data before drawing any conclusions!
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1-26-2007 @ 9:03AM
Nichole Mitchell said...
I thought this was a really interesting study. I wonder if there will be future studies conducted. I, too, like a little lemon in my tea. I wonder if there are any studies out there about lemon and tea?
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1-26-2007 @ 11:16PM
Etan said...
Black tea lovers in our "tea family": look at this as a great opportunity to try the exciting world of Green and Oolong teas waiting to be discovered...
E - http://blog.ateava.com/
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