It’s been a while since the last Tea News so thanks to Groc for alerting me to the shocking news that adding milk to tea makes it less healthy.
Tea, as you may know, is good for you. This is because it’s tea and tea is great. (There’s some science stuff too but that’s beside the point. Tea is great. End of story.) However, according to the European Heart Journal the casein protein found in milk block the bits of tea that help prevent heart disease.
They studied the effect on 16 humans and a bunch of rat tissue. So that’s conclusive then.
Naturally there’s a lot of debate about this as you’d expect for something of such great importance. While I’m a great advocate of tea’s inherent superiority to (blech!) coffee I fully support any investigations into the virtues of tea if only to back up it’s greatness. That said I have some comments on this.
Firstly, the drinking of tea is usually accompanied by biscuits or cake. The health benefits of biscuits and cake are not widely held to be high.
Secondly health is usually not high on people’s minds when drinking tea. What they’re usually thinking is “I really need a cup of tea right now” not “Time for a dose of anti heart disease medication”.
Thirdly, if you want healthy tea you’re probably better off with a nice green tea rather than the standard Red Label variety. Regardless of your position on milk in brown tea you’d have to be mad to put the white in the green. (Little known fact – green tea has caffeine in it too so it counts as proper tea unlike, say, elderberry tea or some other abortion.)
Fourthly, a cigarette smoked with tea (which after beer is the best way to smoke one) kinda blows this health stuff out of the water to begin with, though I accept this is a declining phenomena.
In conclusion then, as so often happens when scientists research tea, as you were.
The second point is exactly what I thought when I heard it on the radio this morning. I’ve tried tea without milk (when I’ve run out). Its not all that great, so I’ll be sticking to milk thanks.
Tea has more psychological benefits than anything, and without milk in the mix, those benefits would be seriously depleted.
Pete, are you still ruining your tea drinking experience by adding sugar?
I love tea too!
I commit the cardinal sins of a) sugar and b) milk otherwise I just can’t drink the stuff.
Sorry. I just had to confess. But being a natural coffee-drinker who is, sadly, intolerant to caffeine AND most decaffeinated coffees, tea is sometimes the only way to hit the spot without all that awkward shakiness, the headaches, the nausea, &c.
Loads and loads of milk and sugar, that’s me. I see it as being like wine – your constituent flavours should balance in the finest cup of tea.
I don’t drink it all that often, though.
Call me Cleopatra, but I demand milk (and lots of it) in my tea. Doesn’t need to be asses milk, but squeeze a fresian over my cuppa and I’m a happy lass.
Cake et biccies are also my tantrumesque diva demands…..
Is adding cows milk the problem, or does any fatty suspension turn tea from health improving tincture to wicked brew. I only ask because my occasional afternoon refresher is a large mug of Earl Grey with a splash of oat milk.
Yes, I said oat milk.
That grainy shit ain’t milk!
I didn’t even know oat kernels could lactate.
I drink tea like I drink red wine (too much maybe)….to enjoy. Never added sugar or milk to tea. Coffee just too yaky for me.
Chris.
Pete – Oat milk isn’t grainy – you may be thinking of some other dairy substitute or, possibly, porridge.
Russl – It’s made the same way as normal cows milk – ground to a power and mixed with water.
Now I’m confused. If you ground a cow to powder you get Oxo. Mix that with water and you get gravy, not milk.
Why do think I switched to oat milk? Tea and gravy tastes bloody awful.
Bovril, ayit. Classic Black Country drink.