TUESDAY, Jan. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Adding milk to tea seems to cancel out the potential cardiovascular benefits of the beverage, according to a report published online Jan. 9 in the European Heart Journal.
Verena Stangl, M.D., of the Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany, and colleagues conducted a study in which 16 women drank 500 mL of freshly brewed black tea with or without 10 percent skimmed milk, while controls drank boiled water.
The researchers measured flow-mediated dilation using high-resolution vascular ultrasound both before and two hours after consumption. While consumption of black tea improved flow-mediated dilation, it only did so among the subjects who did not have milk. Casein in the milk is the likely culprit, the authors note.
"The well-established benefits of tea have been described in many studies. Our results thus provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on the risk of heart disease in the U.K., a country where milk is usually added," explained Stangl in a statement. "Since milk appears to modify the biological activities of tea ingredients, it is likely that the anti-tumor effects of tea could be affected as well. I think it is essential that we re-examine the association between tea consumption and cancer protection, to see if that is the case."
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