Drink tea without milk to lose flab

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Drink tea without milk to lose flab

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New research found that fat-fighting ability will be neutralised if milk is added to tea.

18 April,2012 08:48 pm

Previous research proved that tea contains high levels of compounds that combat the absorption of fat.The compounds, called theaflavins and thearubigins, stopped the pounds from piling on when given to rats on a high-fat diet.But proteins in cows milk neutralise this fat-fighting ability.Devajit Borthakur of the Tea Research Association in India told that the chemistry between the milk proteins and the fat-fighting compounds means “we dont get the health benefit from these compounds.”The finding is bad news for Britons, who add milk to 98 percent of the 165million cups of tea they make a day.“From a public health perspective, tea is rich in antioxidants and may be an important contributor to an individuals overall antioxidant status,” said researcher Lisa Ryan of Oxford Brookes University.“The addition of milk, however, may lower the total antioxidant capacity of tea; however this effect is much greater with skimmed milk compared to whole milk,” she added.The research is published in the journal Nutrition this month.