Got tea?

Drink it without milk for full benefits

By Kim Carlson

January 16, 2007

My 90-year-old grandmother is a wonder — as most healthy 90-year-old people are. She has few ailments, and those she does have, she controls well with drugs. But I can’t help but think the black tea she drinks every day has been a factor in her long life. There’s substantial evidence to suggest that’s the case.

We drank tea together a couple of months ago. She poured two cups for us, and we each spooned a good amount of sugar into our tea. Then I jumped up for milk to add to the mix. “You’re like my mother,” she said. “That’s the British way to drink tea.”

Well, it might be one British way to drink tea (I’m sure there are those Brits who prefer lemon), but it’s not the most healthful way. A new study from Britain demonstrates that adding milk to tea obliterates the cardiovascular health benefits of the tea. Perhaps that’s why my grandmother’s mother died young of heart disease, but my grandma keeps on ticking?

Old habits are hard to break, but today I’ll have my English Breakfast with just sugar. Here’s tea to you, Grandma!