Builders may not have the best reputation for being the healthiest specimens of human beings on the planet, but if a recent study is to be believed, the copious amounts tea they stereotypically drink cannot only help to ward off heart disease but also aid in boosting brain function.
Research, funded by the Tea Advisory Panel “TAP” (you couldn’t make it up), discovered that drinking 3 or 4 cups (2 mugs) of black tea a day, with or without milk, dramatically reduces the risk of heart attacks, keeps the body hydrated and helps to improve general alertness and mood.
And if that wasn’t enough – Tea also appears to have anti-Cancer properties.
The reason researchers believe that Tea has such an impressive effect on health is all down to the natural plant antioxidants called polyphenols. It is thought that polyphenols interact with the biochemistry of the body and have an anit-inflammatory and antioxidant effect, helping to guard against heart disease and cancer.
This is all very fascinating, but what intrigues me is that in the very same press release which was sent to me yesterday, it goes on to say that after water, Tea is the UKs most popular drink with over 77% of Brits enjoying just over 2 mugs of tea a day, whilst on the next page stating that Heart Disease is the UKs biggest killer.
So, in the one breath are told that Tea is our saviour and to safe guard us against Heart Disease we should drink at least 2 mugs a day yet the article then goes on to say that as a nation, we already drink bucket loads of the stuff anyway.
So, the question i have for TAPS is this:
If Tea was really that much of health saviour, how come that despite the fact that as a nation we are drinking the stuff like it was going out of fashion, Heart Disease is still the UK’s biggest killer?