Milk and Tea, Not a Good Mix for Your Health

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Milk and Tea, Not a Good Mix for Your Health

January 9, 2007

If you want to drink tea for its health benefits, then don't add milk. New research found in the European Heart Journal has found that milk counteracts with tea, making the tea not so beneficial. The reason is due to a group of proteins in milk called caseins, which interact with tea, decreasing the concentration of catechin (the flavonoids in tea that are responsible for its protective effects against heart disease).

Fit's Tip: If you need something to enhance the taste and remove the bitterness, add fresh lemon and/or honey.

32 Comments

suzanne 6 years 18 weeks

You go girl! :)

JessNess 6 years 18 weeks

well I had tea with milk tonight and it was DELISH!!!!!!

suzanne 6 years 18 weeks

riotgeek, go tell that to the Daughters of the British Empire... :)

t0xxic 6 years 18 weeks

Im a souther raised gal I always drink my tea sweet and from the Fridge and I have since I was a little girl added whole milk to it. and I love it.

riotgeek 6 years 18 weeks

Good etiquette dictates you never put the milk in first. Always pour the tea in the cup first, then add the milk.

JessNess 6 years 18 weeks

good night!!!!!!

scratch5 6 years 18 weeks

I love an Earl Grey latte. I just asked for steamed milk with a little bit of water and steep the bag in that. So tasty with lots of honey.

Mme Hart 6 years 18 weeks

:ROTFL: He says you're welcome!! :D It's late here, so we're off to bed (OMG it's almost midnight--I feel like I'm 22 again!) so enjoy your evening AND your tea ;) Á demain!! :wave:

JessNess 6 years 18 weeks

hahahahhahahaha :rotfl: I love it!!!! I loved being in London and being in the norm with tea and milk. Now I have lots of places to live!!!!!! yea!!!!!! Tell your husband I said thank you for giving me more moving options :D

Mme Hart 6 years 18 weeks

I read this thread to my British husband, who is laughing his bum off right now and he says this (outside of the countries I mentionned): India = Tea with Milk Peru = Tea with Milk Ecuador = Tea with Milk Bolivia = Tea with Milk Spain = Tea with Milk Estonia = Tea with Milk Wales = Tea with Milk Finland = Tea with Milk Sweden = Tea with Milk Thailand = Tea with Milk Australia = Tea with Milk New Zealand = Tea with Milk Germany = Tea with Milk Greece = Tea with Milk Malta = Tea with Milk Tunisia = Tea with Milk Kenya = Tea with Milk Sri Lanka = Tea with Milk Senegal = Tea with Milk So there, JessNess, you have lots of places you can live! He's been to all of these places, I've been to some, and you never have to ask for milk for your tea, it just comes with it. He also says the hot milk thing is a myth, but not a requirement for a proper cup of tea. He's getting really British on me now and pointing out that the tea-producing nations of the world all drink it with milk. He also says he doesn't want to get me in trouble by posting this and apologizes if it comes of snarky or mean-sprited, it isn't. He's laughing at his memories of lemon and tea in the USA and how confused he was. He said this thread helped that situation make sense to him now. Clotted cream is something you eat WITH tea, but not put in tea. I think we just figured out the hot-milk thing. It would have less-likelihood of curdling (same with coffee) if it was above the temperature of refridgerated milk, but is only a technicality. Anyway, he says HELLOOOO to the "fine ladies of Sugarland" and hopes we can all laugh at cultural differences and perhaps eventually a Brit will be able to get a "proper cuppa" (translation a proper cup of tea including milk) in the USA someday without getting looks like a 2nd head is sprouting from their neck :ROTFL: I hope I got that right, baby! :oops: :D

JessNess 6 years 18 weeks

Tra- when I order tea at coffee houses I always ask them to leave room for milk (in other words dont fill the cup to the top with water). Who ever is getting my hot water always gets confused when I ask this. I come from a mixed background so there is no cultural reason why I take milk in my tea but my mom grew up that way and passed it on to me. I wish it was more common here so that people didnt look at me like Im drinking something disgusting. I have never had lemon with my tea and never will. I will always me a milk and sugar girl- I guess I should move to the UK and fit in with everyone else

tra 6 years 18 weeks

I'm American and I was raised on tea with milk/cream and a little sugar. My family is mostly of Irish heritage so I guess that's where it comes from. Now that I'm an adult I will ocassionaly drink tea without milk but I much prefer it with milk. I've learned when dining out that I must request milk with my tea and expect an odd look from most.

Mme Hart 6 years 18 weeks

:D Suzanne...that's so true! Brits can't even begin to think of tea as something without milk. At the House of Lords in London you'd NEVER see a Lord sipping his (or her--there's one woman I think) sipping her tea without milk in it first--I've watched this phenomena myself. I doesn't always have to be warmed first, but it does just make it taste better ;)

suzanne 6 years 18 weeks

So I asked my friend, a real live past Regent of the Daughters of the British Empire, why she puts warmed milk in the cup first and here is her non-scientific answer: "It doesn't tast the same if you don't." Mme Hart, I also find cultural differences to be so fascinating!

Mme Hart 6 years 18 weeks

Oooh Americans!! Je t'aime!! :D I mean that! It's so funny to me when we visit the USA and you ask for tea and get lemon on the side. In Canada, UK, France, Ireland, etc., you ask for tea and get milk...it's so common, it's not even something you think about. Cultural differences make me smile :D

honeysugar28 6 years 18 weeks

Yeah I've heard that they do it a lot in England and Ireland but its not customary in the states I've never seen anyone take their tea like that. I only like Iced tea so I wouldn't know. LOL!

UrbanBohemian 6 years 18 weeks

I really like milk in my tea. That's interesting. Maybe I can improvise by eating other heart-healthy foods. Salmon, oatmeal, dark chocolate are some I like to eat, and you don't have to alter it much and sacrifice the health benefits from them.

smeehle 6 years 18 weeks

I worked for a company in the UK for a while and my coworkers got me hooked on what they called "a proper cup of tea" - a little milk and just a tiny bit of sugar. (FYI - they used milk straight out of the fridge, Suzanne. Go figure!) It will kill me to give it up now, but I made the switch from coffee to tea to try to be healthier, so I guess it's self-defeating to keep the milk.

JessNess 6 years 18 weeks

I know that if you go to high tea that there is a lot of tradition in that but I have never heard of putting in the milk first- I guess it wouldnt matter. When I was in London nobody insisted that I put my milk in first. Actually we never even got hot milk

suzanne 6 years 18 weeks

The British insist that you should only put hot milk in tea and you should put it in the cup first, then pour in the tea... What's that all about?

Marci 6 years 18 weeks

Ooops! Typo before. I meant to say I've heard that you SHOULDN'T - should not - brew tea for longer than 2 minutes. Then it becomes toxic on some level.

JessNess 6 years 18 weeks

I have been drinking milk in tea ever since I was little (I also add a little sugar to mine). A lot of people here dont really do it and think it is disgusting but I really like it. If you go to places like England it is more popular. If you think putting milk in tea is gross just think about putting milk/cream in coffee- its the same concept.

Fancy04 6 years 18 weeks

I dont drink tea.

a nonny mouse 6 years 18 weeks

Ooooo, I have an herbal pomegranate tea. It's lovely.

Marci 6 years 18 weeks

Tea with milk is popular in Ireland. Actually, they like it with clotted cream, which doesn't *sound* very appealing. So my Irish household always had tea with milk. But a few years ago a guy made me a pot of tea with no milk and just a little sugar and I didn't want to say anything so I drank it. And loved it! I've never put milk in since. I don't know if it's true or not, but I read somewhere that you should brew tea more than 2 minutes. That after that it becomes toxic on some level. Probably acidy.

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32 Comments

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