Cow's Milk Counteracts Tea's Cardioprotective Effects
Photo Credit: Naama
FULL STORY:
Sixteen healthy women volunteers drank 16 ounces of either freshly brewed black tea, black tea with 10% skimmed cow's milk, or boiled water as a control. After the women had consumed their assigned liquid, researchers used ultrasound to measure how well their brachial artery (the primary artery supplying blood to the arm) relaxed and expanded after a blood pressure cuff that had been inflated for 5 minutes on participants' forearms was deflated - a challenge test called "flow-mediated dilation."
Flow-mediated dilation gives a functional "video clip," showing how well blood vessels are able to respond to a sudden increase in blood flow, and is often used to help determine an individual's risk for heart disease.
Black tea significantly improved flow-mediated dilation compared with water, but adding milk completely blunted tea's beneficial effects.
To confirm these findings, similar experiments were performed in laboratory studies using isolated rat blood vessels and endothelial (blood vessel lining) cells. Once again, while tea increased the activity of the enzyme in endothelial cells that promotes relaxation (endothelial nitric oxide synthase) and promoted blood vessel dilation, these beneficial effects were completely inhibited when cow's milk was added to the tea.
Why does cow's milk short-circuit tea's cardio-protective effects? Casein proteins found in cow's milk bind to the helpful catechins in tea, preventing them from doing their protective work.
Practical Tip: To reap tea's protective effects against cardiovascular disease, enjoy your tea au naturel or, if you love "milk tea," try substituting a little soy milk or rice milk for cow's milk.
Reference:
Lorenz M, Jochmann N, von Krosigk A, Martus P, Baumann G, Stangl K, Stangl V. Addition of milk prevents vascular protective effects of tea. Eur Heart J. 2007 Jan;28(2):219-23. Epub 2007 Jan 9.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: tea, cows milk, heart, alternative medicine, complimentary medicine, health and wellness
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6 Comments:
Yes i'm a big health proponent of tea and of course good tea doesn't need any milk or sugar.
They're have been related studies and articles out on this subject in the past few years and they're all in accord with this study.
However, Foxnews.com had a spin on this theory a few months ago and came out with an article, "Study: Milk Doesn't Rob Black Tea of Antioxidants" intending to undo and confuse tea drinkers.
Essentially, we need to study the cultures that drink tea on its own vs. communities that add milk and sugar instead of mere case studies. Besides of course ignoring all Foxnews WebMD articles.
Go tea and herbs. It is an elixir. Their health, mental and physical properties are immeasurable
Trade Arabia from Business News Information article, "Milk in Tea Blocks Health Gains" was one of the first articles on this subject.
With or without milk, its very important for your overall immune system and general balance to have a daily habit of a few cups of tea.
I am so impressed by the sophistication and health knowledge of our readers!
Milk and Tea are good for someone like me being a carrier of Staph. This superbug Mercer is truly scary for people like me.Like your posted report.Thank you.
This is an interesting finding. I try to keep up with tea news and drink plenty of Green tea sans milk. One question though is what are the effects of milk and other dairy consumed in the diet on tea's cardiovascular activity? Dr Pizzorno has there been any research in this area?
What about non-dairy creamers? I have to have some sort of creamer and sweetener in my tea and coffee, except for some herbal teas and iced tea (though I still need sweetener in those). It just tastes too nasty without it. I usually use Equal or honey and one of the non-dairy creamers in my tea. I'm lactose-intolerant, so I avoid dairy in my drinks anyway.
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