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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Got milk? You may not want to have it in your tea. A new study reveals drinking milk can counteract the healthy benefits of drinking tea.
Previous research suggests black tea improves blood flow and the ability of the arteries to relax. Investigators from Charite Hospital at the University of Berlin in Germany wanted to know if milk impacted these benefits.
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For the study, researchers had 16 healthy women drink either boiled water or tea with and without milk. Each participant had an ultrasound measuring the function of an artery in the forearm done before and two hours after drinking either the water, tea or the tea with milk.
Investigators report black tea significantly improved blood flow compared to drinking water. However, when milk was added to the tea the effect was not seen.
Study authors then did similar experiments on rats. The same results were reported. When milk was consumed with the tea, the positive health effects of tea were not seen. Study authors write if you want to drink tea and have some beneficial health effects, drink it without milk.
They add this study could explain why countries such as Britain have not shown a decreased risk of heart disease or stroke from drinking tea. In Britain, it's very common to drink tea with milk.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: European Heart Journal, published online Jan. 9, 2007
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