The previous post talked about how high levels of phosphate in soda and junk food may increase the rate of aging. So if we are going to cut down on our soda consumption, what are we going to drink instead? How about tea?
A headline on the BBC website is Tea ‘healthier’ drink than water.
The article discusses a report that looked at the benefits of black tea. The report is a review of the scientific literature and looks at which health problems drinking tea may have a positive effect. Though there is much evidence that green tea is very healthy, there has been lots of argument about black tea. The reason is that some people argue that whereas green tea is minimally processed, black tea due to the processing will lose some of the health-promoting components during processing.
The main benefit of drinking tea seems to be on cardiovascular disease. This was for 3 or more cups of tea per day. (Which being a tea swilling Brit I certainly exceed.)
Other things tea may be helpful for, is protection against plaque and hence gum disease, and bone strengthening.
If you don’t drink tea, maybe you should try it for a while to see if you can get a taste for it. Start out weak and work your way up. Or try it the British way with a splash of milk in it.
The report suggests that even 1 cup of tea a day is good, since tea contains antioxidants. The maximum suggested was 8 cups per day.
To quote from the BBC article, “Drinking tea is actually better for you than drinking water. Water is essentially replacing fluid. Tea replaces fluids and contains antioxidants so it’s got two things going for it.” So my tea addiction is good for me after-all.
