Tea is popular not only for its good taste, but also for its health benefits. In fact, tea is one of the best sources of antioxidants. Adding milk to a cup of tea can make this drink more delicious and enjoyable, but if you want to drink tea for its health benefits, that mix is not a good idea. It can destroy tea’s ability to protect against heart disease.
A research published in the European Heart Journal has shown that milk counteracts with tea, reducing the tea’s benefits. A group of proteins in milk will eventually ‘neutralize’ the antioxidant properties in tea.
The research was conducted on 16 healthy adults. They were asked to drink a cup of black tea and tea with nonfat milk. Furthermore, their vascular function was measured. The results showed that those drinks had different effects to the arterial function. When compared with water, black tea significantly improved arterial function. On the contrary, the addition of milk eliminated that benefit. Trials with experimental animals also showed the same result.
The adverse effect is not only promoted by cow’s milk but also by soy milk. Soy milk has the same ability to neutralize antioxidants in tea. So if you want to take the best advantage of tea, it is better to avoid mixing it with those milks.
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