A new study shows how tea can benefit your arteries--but also shows that the addition of milk can wipe out those benefits.
The phytochemicals in tea, catechins and theaflavins, promote dilation of arteries and improve blood flow. Casein, the main protein in milk, binds to catechins and renders them unable to affect arteries.
The lead author went as far as to say that:
Our results thus provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on the risk of heart disease in the UK, a country where milk is usually added.
Hmmm. Not so fast there. 1. The primary components of tea that they reported having cardiovascular benefits were catechins--primarily found in green tea. Most people don't add milk to green tea, and people in the UK are black tea drinkers. 2. The UK is reported to have the second most unhealthy diet/lifestyle in the developed world (USA, we're stil #1, whoooo!). You can't compare the health of the UK with parts of Asia (for example) on the basis of tea consumption alone. Frankly, I think that cardiovascular health in the UK isn't upset that drastically by taking tea with milk or with lemon.
Here's what you need to know
This was a very small study and the findings are based, in part, on the effects of tea on rat tissue. We do know that milk proteins bind to phytochemicals in chocolate and in tea, altering the cardiovascular benefits. But we also know that milk in chocolate can actually promote improvements in cognition.
If you're really worried about cardiovascular health, to be blunt I doubt having milk in your tea is the most damaging part of your lifestyle.
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