If you love to add milk to your tea, you are not alone. Many of us out there (including me) find the taste of tea with milk very likeable.
However, there are many out there that question the wisdom in doing so. If you are here, then you have come across some of those claims and that concerns you. Hence I decided to investigate and write a short article to help us allay our concerns.
This article looks into the topic on a scientific basis. Let’s find out what the research says about the practice of adding milk to tea.
Milk + Green Tea May Reduce Weight-Loss Potential of Green Tea
Milk has protein and Green Tea has catechins which aid in weight loss. Separately, both have been studied to have the potential to induce weight loss.
Diet-induced thermogenesis and resting energy expenditure are mechanisms by which calorie-burn and consequent weight-loss may be induced in humans.
A study1 (Hursel et al., 2011) was conducted on 18 subjects (aged 18-60, BMI 20-26) by Hersel and Plantenga regarding the effect on diet-induced thermogenesis by consumption of milk-protein combined with Green tea. It concluded that consumption of milk-protein inhibits the effect of green tea on Diet-induced thermogenesis.
Hence, one may expect the weight loss potential of green tea to be reduced if milk is added to it.
Adding Milk May Reduce the Anti-Oxidant Qualities of Tea
One of the health benefits of tea is its anti-oxidation power. Studies have shown that the anti-oxidant power of tea may help with diseases like ulcers.
A study2 (Serafini et al., 2003) on the effect of milk on plasma anti-oxidants in Chocolate found that the anti-oxidation power of chocolate was reduced with the addition of milk.
Another study3 (Niseteo et al., 2012) on the effect of milk addition in bioactive composition and antioxidant potential of 13 different coffee brews suggested that there was a decrease in the anti-oxidant power of coffee when mixed with milk.
One study6 (Rashidinejad et al., 2017) showed that addition of milk to tea infusions may reduce the polyphenolic anti-oxidant activity by the potential interactions between catechins and caseins.
A study4 (Bourassa et al., 2013) on the effect of milk protein – alpha-casein – on the anti-oxidant activity of polyphenols found that the antioxidant activity of all polyphenols was lowered differentially based on their molecular complexity.
But then again….
On the other hand, the above study also noted that the overall antioxidant activity of all polyphenols was lowered by only 11-27% in the presence of caseins. This means that only less than 30% anti-oxidant power of tea is inhibited by the presence of milk and that the rest remains intact.
Another 2005 study5 (Reddy et al., 2005) on the effect of milk addition in the anti-oxidant activity of Black Tea concluded that there is very less risk that milk addition inhibiting the ability of Black tea to prevent oxidative damage.
So what’s the verdict?
Should we, then, keep adding milk to tea or stop it?
As you can see, there may be merit to both sides of the argument. It is obvious that this is not yet a closed chapter.
It is also relevant to note that many people add only about 2 tablespoons or so of milk to their tea. This is probably too small a quantity to cause any major loss to the benefits of tea. Also, keep in mind that when you drink milk, you get a whole other array of benefits that are associated with milk consumption.
My suggestion would be for you to go ahead and do it the way you like it. Life is not so long as to wait and worry on the verdict of a simple pleasure that may or may not reduce some benefits to a small degree.
If you love to add some milk with tea, by all means, go ahead and have that blissful sip. I know I would.
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