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Skip the Milk
Posted by Phuong on Dec 14th, 2008



Stop adding milk to your tea!

Polyphenols called catechins are the antioxidant compounds found in tea that make it such a healthy drink!

If you add milk to your tea, the milk protein, casein, binds to catechins, making them unavailable to the body. Therefore, milk counteracts against the antioxidants in tea!

Lower quality black teas are usually small, broken leaves, tea dusts or fannings. The smaller the leaf, the quicker the tea will become bitter. That is why some tea drinkers add milk - to counteract against the bitter tannins. When choosing a premium loose leaf tea, such as Koni Creme Earl Grey, you won't need to add milk. It tastes great alone, doesn't easily become bitter, and is much healthier for you!



Koni Creme Earl Grey



The European Heart Journal has found that the protective effect that tea has on the cardiovascular system is totally wiped out by adding milk.

    Their study showed that the culprit in milk is a group of proteins called caseins, which they found interacted with the tea to decrease the concentration of catechins in the beverage. Catechins are the flavonoids in tea that mainly contribute to its protection against cardiovascular disease.


Fat Content in Milk and Cream

If you are watching your weight, you might be curious to know just how much fat is in the various forms of milk and cream.

Whole milk (1cup) = 8 g
2% milk (1cup) = 5 g
Skim milk (1 cup) = 2.5 g
Half and half (1 Tbsp) = 1.5 g
Heavy Cream (1 Tbs) = 3 g
Light Cream (1 Tbs) = 2.5 g

It seems that not just the amount (5 cups a day is recommended) of tea helps achieve better heart health, but how you drink it matters, too!
Comments
  • The Tea Chick Says: January 7th, 2009, 12:25am Hi Kristie! Soy milk does not have caseins, so it should be OK to add to tea.
  • Klb Says: January 6th, 2009, 1:14pm Does this hold true for soy milk?
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