Black TEA, No Milk Thanks!

[SevenFX]

Seems like black TEA (no milk) has hit the headlines again with the health benefits again.

I'm definetly am tea person purely because of the higher content of antioxidants, but improving blood flow will help our arteries to relax as well, even if we can't in this new age. :

Enjoy, Good Health to all.
SevenFX

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21032373-1702,00.html

Tea can be milked for health benefitsBy Patricia Reaney in London
January 09, 2007 12:02pm

DRINKING tea can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, but only if milk is not added to the brew, German scientists say.

Research has shown tea improves blood flow and the ability of the arteries to relax, but researchers at the Charite Hospital at the University of Berlin in Mitte found milk eliminated the protective effect against cardiovascular disease.

"The beneficial effects of drinking black tea are completely prevented by the addition of milk, said Dr Verena Stangl, a cardiologist at the hospital.

"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," she said.

Tea is second only to water in worldwide consumption so any benefits could have important public health implications. But until now it was not known whether adding milk had an impact.

Dr Stangl and her team discovered that proteins called caseins in milk decreased the amount of compounds in tea known as catechins, which protect against heart disease.

They believed their findings, which are reported in the European Heart Journal, could explain why countries such as Britain, where tea is regularly consumed with milk, had not shown a decreased risk of heart disease and stroke from drinking tea.

The researchers compared the health effects of drinking boiled water and tea with and without milk on 16 healthy women. Using ultrasound, they measured the function of an artery in the forearm before and two hours after drinking tea.

Black tea significantly improved blood flow compared to drinking water, but adding milk blunted the effect of the tea.

"We found that, whereas drinking tea significantly increased the ability of the artery to relax and expand to accommodate increased blood flow compared with drinking water, the addition of milk completely prevents the biological effect," said Dr Mario Lorenz, a molecular biologist and co-author of the study.

Tests on rats produced similar results. When rats were exposed to black tea they produced more nitric oxide, which promotes dilation of blood vessels, but adding milk blocked the effect.

Tea has also been shown to have a protective effect against cancer so the findings could have further implications.

"Since milk appears to modify the biological activities of tea ingredients, it is likely that the anti-tumour effects of tea could be affected as well," Dr Stangl said.

"I think it is essential that we re-examine the association between tea consumption and cancer protection, to see if that is the case," she said.

 

[watsonc]

Re: Black TEA, No Milk Thanks.

Yeah I read that article yesterday. Lucky I mostly drink green tea with no milk anyway. I'm a white Australian living in a Chinese household, so I've developed a taste for green tea.

I definately believe in the so called benefits of drinking tea. I know a chinese man who is 88 years old, who smokes cigarettes, and he is quite healthy for his age. He walks down to YumCha everyday, reads the paper, does a bit of shopping etc, he's amazing. I think largely contributed by his high green tea consumption!

So drink up.

 

[constable]

Re: Black TEA, No MilkThanks!

Earl grey man myself tek! Pity about the milk, I really like milk with my tea.
I thought green tea was the type meant to be loaded with anti oxidents etc? (cant stand it personally).(no offence watsonc)

 

[SevenFX]

Re: Black TEA, No Milk Thanks.

Yeah I read that article yesterday. Lucky I mostly drink green tea with no milk anyway. I'm a white Australian living in a Chinese household, so I've developed a taste for green tea.

I definately believe in the so called benefits of drinking tea. I know a chinese man who is 88 years old, who smokes cigarettes, and he is quite healthy for his age. He walks down to YumCha everyday, reads the paper, does a bit of shopping etc, he's amazing. I think largely contributed by his high green tea consumption!

So drink up.

Thats good to hear Watsonc,

I'm of the understanding green tea is better again that the black tea, I'm sipping on now, and may have to switch.

However I'm not to sure about the green tea cancelling out the toxins from smoking, as it's one of the things I could never see myself doing.

Hope he and you live a long life though. and if not long well then more importantly Happy Life :

Cheers
SevenFX

 

[sleeper88]

i love chinese tea..had it all my life, at first it'll taste strange but eventually it'll be fine

 

[SevenFX]

Re: Black TEA, No MilkThanks!

Pity about the milk, I really like milk with my tea.

Morning Constable,

I'm a big believer of retraining oneself, and my tastebuds are starting to align themselves with my mind....so there's less arguments all round.

I even enjoy my cerial without milk, and more often fruit juice, not that I'm tring to put the dairy business out of work.

I also enjoy caramel topping with tea, instead of sugar... as make a pleasent change...

SevenFX's secrets revealed...
Cheers
SevenFX

 

[watsonc]

The Jasmine green tea is probably the most favoured by Westerners. So give that a go all you whities! I've tried some types of green tea that literally taste like toilet water. So what I'm saying is - there are extremely bad tasting green teas out there.
I swear green tea tastes better being brewed in a tea pot and served in those little tiny asian cups.
Don't buy green tea from Woolies or Coles they are crap. Buy the asian brands in Chinatown.

 

[Morgan]

Having a Chinese wife, my tea habits have also changed somewhat over the years away from the standard "milk tea".
If you dislike the bitterness of green tea, give Oolong or even White Tea (the very youngest tips of the tea plant and minimally processed- now available in Woolies) a go.

 

[spitrader1]

The Jasmine green tea is probably the most favoured by Westerners. So give that a go all you whities! I've tried some types of green tea that literally taste like toilet water. So what I'm saying is - there are extremely bad tasting green teas out there.
I swear green tea tastes better being brewed in a tea pot and served in those little tiny asian cups.
Don't buy green tea from Woolies or Coles they are crap. Buy the asian brands in Chinatown.

the only time i drink green tea is directly before six tsing taos, duck pancake, salt and pepper lobster, xo pipps and a bottle of coldstream hills chard at golden century.

 

[anon]

I must have that cup of tea in the morning and three times more during the day, but it's not for anti-oxidants. It's for caffeine.

My anti-oxidants come in red wine, also a must the last thing at night.

anon

 

[billhill]

However I'm not to sure about the green tea cancelling out the toxins from smoking, as it's one of the things I could never see myself doing.

Here is a link of a journal article explaining some of the benefits of green tea including reduction of damage caused by smoking.

I originally was a black tea drinker but switched over to green tea about 4 years ago. There are some poor quality green teas out there that are quite bitter. I've turned into a bit of a conisseur of green tea and for those that do not like the taste try to buy sencha green tea from japan and always buy loose leaf. This is by far the highest quality green tea with the best taste (no bitterness) and highest antioxidant content. I drink the stuff instead of water now and haven't been sick since i switched over.

If they could put this stuff in the water supply without people tasting it i reckon it would halve the health spending in this country. The evidence for significant health benefits of green tea is overwhelming.

 

[Mofra]

I drink green tea every day - I must admit I put a little honey in it too to improve the taste.
My GF is studying Chinese medicine and two days ago brought home a variety of ingredients to start making her own teas, as a preventative medicine type measure.

Just wish this started in winter instead of summer...

 

[Joe Blow]

Here is a link of a journal article explaining some of the benefits of green tea including reduction of damage caused by smoking.

Where's the link?

 

[billhill]

Whoops, sorry guys missed that one. Here you go.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...uids=12067577&query_hl=29&itool=pubmed_docsum

 

[Agentm]

texas tea for me only!!!

 

[MARKETWINNER]

http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa021103a.htm

Black Tea or Green Tea - Which is Healthier?