Bad news for Britons: adding milk to tea ruins the health benefits of the drink, according to a new German study.
Tea has complex compounds called polyphenols which are believed to help the arteries to relax or dilate, thus enabling a smoother flow of blood.
Scientists led at the Charite Hospital in Berlin tested black Darjeeling tea on 16 healthy women volunteers aged over 50, placing an ultrasound probe on their forearm to measure arterial response.
PHOTO: AP
When the women drank half a liter of tea, their arteries relaxed significantly more than when they drank hot water or tea with milk — tea in which skim milk, comprising 10 percent of the drink's volume, was added.
The results were confirmed in lab-dish tests on rat aorta.
The study, which appears online in the European Heart Journal, points the finger of blame at three casein proteins in the milk. These are thought to adhere to a kind of polyphenols known as catechins, preventing them from carrying out their health-making work.
This could explain why Britain, a nation passionate about tea-drinking but where almost everybody adds milk to their cup, fails to make headway against cardiovascular disease, said researcher Verena Stangl.
The study did not cover green tea, which is widely drunk in East Asia — without milk.(AFP)
對英國人來說是壞消息︰根據德國一項新出爐的研究，茶中加奶會破壞茶類的健康效益。
茶葉中含有一種「茶多酚」的複合物，據信可以協助動脈鬆弛或擴張，讓血液循環更暢通。
柏林的查利特醫院頂尖科學家檢驗了十六名自願飲用大吉嶺紅茶的年逾半百健康女性，在她們前臂放置超音波感測器，測量其動脈反應。
這些女性飲用半公升的茶時，其動脈較飲用熱水或奶茶（添加總容量百分之十的脫脂牛奶）時明顯鬆弛。
經實驗皿測驗老鼠的主動脈後，這項結果證實無誤。
《歐洲心臟雜誌》網站上的這份研究指出，這要歸咎於牛奶的三種乾酪素蛋白。它們會依附在一種名為「兒茶素」的茶多酚上， 阻止兒茶素進行健康工作。
研究員維若納．史丹格說，這解釋了為何熱愛飲茶的英國，雖然人人幾乎都在杯中加奶，卻無助於防治心血管疾病。
這份研究並未涵蓋在東亞廣受歡迎的綠茶—不加奶的綠茶。 （法新社/翻譯：賴美君）
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