British people have a tradition of drinking tea, but compared to the Chinese, who are equally fond of tea, they have their own unique customs. A strong cup of black tea, when mixed with milk and sugar, retains its delicate fragrance while eliminating the bitterness, resulting in a richer and more lingering flavor. However, a greater benefit of this way of drinking tea is that milk can also detoxify the tea.
Britain is not only a nation of "全民喝茶" (全民喝茶 -全民喝茶, literally "the whole nation drinks tea"), but also one of the earliest countries to develop Western pharmacology, with long-term and in-depth research on the relationship between tea drinking and health. After research, the Royal College of Physicians of the UK solemnly warned the public: milk should be added to tea to detoxify it.
Tea contains a natural component called "tea polyphenols," which are divided into two main categories: hydrolyzable tea polyphenols and condensed tea polyphenols. The former contains anti-cancer substances and has a pharmacological effect of preventing the canceration of normal cells. However, at the same time, excessive consumption of condensed tea polyphenols may increase the risk of esophageal and oral cancer.
As is well known, milk is rich in protein. When milk is added to tea, its proteins combine with tea polyphenols, making the tea polyphenols easier to be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, thereby reducing the incidence of cancer.
In addition, both tea and coffee contain caffeine, which is also a substance that is beneficial in moderation but harmful in excess. In 1980, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned pregnant women to avoid foods rich in caffeine, mainly based on the evidence that caffeine could cause female mice to give birth to deformed offspring. In December 1993, a paper published in the *Journal of the American Medical Association* also pointed out that pregnant women who consumed more than 321 mg of caffeine per day (equivalent to 3 cups of brewed coffee or 6 cups of steeped tea) were three times more likely to miscarry than other pregnant women.
Caffeine can also lead to osteoporosis. If you drink more than 3 cups of coffee a day, bone calcium will be lost through urine. If you don't pay attention to supplementing calcium, it is likely to cause osteoporosis. Medical research has shown that women who drink two cups of coffee a day and maintain this habit for life (over 45 years) are more prone to osteoporosis of the spine and hip bones. On the other hand, women who drink at least one glass of milk a day to supplement calcium have a relatively lower incidence of osteoporosis.由此可见, drinking milk can also eliminate the chronic toxins in caffeine.