Tea and Coffee, “with or without milk?

A recent study assesses whether their addition of milk actually changes the biological activity of antioxidant compounds in these drinks.

The combination of food product is not always appropriate if we are to maximize the nutritional performance of each of them. This is the case of coffee and tea, two drinks of daily and frequent consumption.

The first, mixed with milk, is common in both breakfast and snack, a mixture discussed for the possibility of reducing the antioxidant capacity of compounds or to affect the bioavailability of some nutrients of milk.

In relation to tea, there is a dilemma whether the addition of milk modifies the biological activity of the plant, diminishing the preventive antioxidant and vasodilatory action, and to what extent.

Tea is a universal drink, and the second, most consumed worldwide, after water,. Each country has different ways of preparing and tasting it: natural, with lemon, with added sugar, flavored with spices (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger ...) or with milk.

Epidemiological studies suggest that foods rich in flavonoids may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer by its antioxidant action.

The scientific assessment has found that tea (black, red, green, white) has an intense biological activity mediated by its rich in catechins, a type of antioxidant phenolic compounds from the family of flavonoids, and its main bioactive compounds.

Scientific evidence has established antioxidant effects, anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory on tea and hence its response to protection against cardiovascular disease, which is reflected in many experimental and clinical studies.

However, a study by German researchers in Berlin, consisting of checking the response on endothelial function of black tea, showed that the presence of milk is unfortunate, since the addition of it blunts the positive effects of tea on the vascular system.