Time for coffee and tea
Black tea and bone health
It is well known that green tea has many health impacts. But what of black tea? Tea remains the most widely consumed beverage after water, and black tea makes up 80% of all the tea that is drank in the world. Black tea is the main type of tea that is drunken in Europe and North America.
Although drinking black tea has many potential health impacts mainly due to its antioxidant flavonoids, it is thought by many that drinking black tea also has some negative impacts, such as impaired dental and bone health, and cognitive effects that are a consequence of the caffeine and caffeine like substances that are found in the black tea beverage.
In Britain about 54% of tea that is consumed is sweetened with substances such as sugar or honey. It is well known that these can have an harmful aspect on dental health, especially bad for teeth are warm sugary liquids. It is therefore recommended that if you do drink tea that you consume it without sugar to reduce the potential of tooth decay.
Black tea drank on its own is thought to have a positive impact upon dental health. This is as a consequence to the tea plant gaining fluoride from the soil in which it is grown. It is estimated that the tea found in one tea bag contains just under 200 micrograms of fluoride. It is thought that the drinking of four cups of tea is enough to make a significant contribution to the fluoride content of the diet. in addition to the fluoride that is found in black tea, research has shown that drinking black tea can reduce the salivary amylase activity, it is thought that this is due to the catechin antioxidants in black tea and it may be beneficial in reducing oral cancers.
There has been much speculation that drinking black tea has a negative affect on bone mineral density because of caffeine and phytoestrogens, and may therefore have a negative impact on people who have osteopenia or osteoporosis. Interestingly research has shown that the consumption of black tea actually has a slight positive affect on bone health. Chen and colleagues showed that drinking four cups of tea a day led to a significant increase in bone mineral density. An additional factor is that many people who drink black tea like to take it with milk; this is thought to contribute as much as 3% of the daily calcium requirement; calcium is a key factor in the fight against osteoporosis.
Black tea and health part five: negatives of drinking tea
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