Drink any kind of tea to reduce stress. That's the message from researchers at University College London, who found that people who drank normal black tea destressed more quickly and had lower levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) in their blood after a harrowing event.
And a recent report in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals evidence that drinking three cups of tea a day reduces the risk of coronary heart disease because the water in the tea can help replenish fluids in the body. Dietitian Frankie Philips says it makes no difference if you drink tea made using a bag or loose leaves. But the brewing time will have an effect. "The stronger the tea, the higher the content of polyphenols, which act as antioxidants in the body," she says.
But what could affect the health benefits is taking your tea with milk. A recent German study at the Charite Hospital in Berlin found that the protective effect that tea has on the cardiovascular system is totally wiped out by adding milk.
Reader's Digest April 2007
