Planning on watching any Downton Abbey reruns this summer? Or checking out videos coming out on DVD, like Saving Mr. Banks? A good story brings you in and makes you want to share in the experiences of the characters, even if that is only to share a cup of tea. However, you will need some cream on hand if you want to really enjoy tea like the English. We did a little checking to see how adding milk or cream affects our favorite drink.
Hold the Cream, Thank You
Tastes and personal preferences aside, adding milk to your cup of tea can block some of the health benefits. The milk proteins can bind to the catechins or beneficial plant compounds found in tea, thus blocking your body’s ability to absorb them. In some studies, tea has also been found to increase metabolism, but adding milk can inhibit this. Finally, milk has extra calories, which may be a problem if your calorie counting. But before you throw the addition of dairy out completely, there may be other healthy reasons to pour some in.
Yes, Please!
Calcium! Milk adds calcium to your bones to make them strong and healthy, but here is something you may not have realized. Caffeine and the tannins in tea can inhibit your body’s ability to absorb calcium naturally. Milk or cream not only adds more calcium to your diet, but it also keeps the tannins and caffeine in a simple cup of tea from blocking the absorbtion of this precious mineral. Other studies have shown that the amount of milk added to a drink loaded with health benefits, such as tea, cannot affect it greatly.
So it is really a matter of taste after health concerns are weighed in on both sides. We recommend a Keemun, an Earl Grey or any black tea. The question remains though, do you put milk in your teacup first or last? P.L. Travers (in Saving Mr. Banks) would insist on milk first. Try it sometime. What do you prefer?
Read more on this while you sip your next cup (before starting in on the next Downton Abbey episode).