Green Tea vs Milk Tea – Which is healthier?
Water is the elixir of life and essential for your well-being. However, tea ranks next on account of its popularity as the beverage of choice.
Indeed, inhabitants of Asia, the United Kingdom, and Canada, along with parts of Africa, favour this unique beverage that is made by steeping a handful of tea leaves in hot water.
It is the oldest way known to humankind of becoming refreshed within seconds.
You would be astounded to know that tea grew in abundance in less populated areas and was often ignored.
Then came 2737 BC, and the Chinese Emperor added it to his morning cuppa, thus elevating it to new heights.
It has remained entrenched firmly in the minds of people.
The American coffee is a relatively new drink that was popularised post the Boston Tea Party.
Tea is certainly not confined to a single type, though.
On the contrary, you will find avid tea enthusiasts discussing its merits based on the color. You thus get black, white, green, and yellow varieties of tea available now.
However, all of them are sourced from a solitary plant, i.e., Camellia Sinensis.
The difference lies in the processing of the leaves as well as the extent of oxidation it undergoes.
It comes with a large number of health benefits, but adding milk and a sugar cube to make it more palatable may reduce its nutritional benefits somewhat.
You may yearn for the age-old milk tea or root for the relatively new green tea. Which one should you drink, though?
Green tea vs. milk tea is a battle that has friends and families debating the issue in earnest.
Each variety has its uses, and it would help you to arrive at an informed decision once you learn enough to distinguish between them.
While it is understood that a steaming cup of tea contains several beneficial components, most people prefer to drink it to boost their energy and remain refreshed. Morning tea has become almost essential in modern times.
However, it makes sense to take a look at the components in each type of tea to choose your morning beverage.
1. Antioxidants
Catechins, the main component of tea, come with proven antioxidant properties.
Green tea is chock-a-block with catechins that help the body remain healthy by protecting against free radicals responsible for illness and ageing.
Unfortunately, your body will not get too many antioxidants by consuming black milky tea. It is the milk that prevents the absorption of antioxidants by body cells.
2. Caffeine
Do not automatically switch to coffee when you are eager to get caffeine.
Tea contains a good amount of caffeine too, and you will find milky tea to have an enhanced amount of it in comparison to its green counterpart.
Milk tea is usually prepared with black tea that contains more caffeine. You will thus find 30mg-60mg of caffeine in a small cup of tea that has been steeped in hot water & milk for 8 minutes flat.
A known booster of energy, drinking several cups of milk tea may result in increasing your blood pressure and have your heart racing. Hence, opt for 1-2 cups per day, and to ensure better absorption of antioxidants, opt for black tea without milk or add some lemon juice to improve the taste.
3. Fluoride
You will be able to obtain a good amount of fluorides by choosing green tea.
This will enable you to add strength to your bones and keep your teeth healthy without resorting to supplements.
Adding milk will dilute this effect with the number of fluorides being greatly reduced.
Benefits of Green Tea
Consuming green tea will help you to benefit hugely from its bioactive components that improve both heart health and brain functions.
Some of the health benefits that have been proved by the medical fraternity include:
1. Green Tea Improves Cardiac Health
Green tea contains a good amount of EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) compounds that maintain the lining of blood vessels and reduce stress and anxiety.
Do not ever add milk to green tea for better absorption of antioxidants.
2. Green Tea Increases Detoxification Properties
All the toxins may be eliminated from the body, courtesy of green tea.
It will not only boost your immunity but may also improve the health of your skin, making it blemish-free and glossy in appearance.
3. Green Tea May Help Weight Loss
Antioxidants coming from green tea help to fight against free radical damage and improve metabolism.
This helps in weight loss when combined with well-balanced nutrition and exercises.
Benefits of Milk Tea
Milk tea is prepared by adding a tablespoon or 2 of milk to brewed black tea. It is consumed hot and is popular across the UK and parts of South Asia.
Some of the advantages associated with drinking milk tea include:
1. Better Taste
The sharp, astringent taste is reduced considerably with the addition of milk.
This kind of tea is flavourful and favoured in almost all tea-drinking communities that cannot do without a cup of morning tea.
2. Added Benefits
Many people make sure to have tea with the added flavour of either ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, tulsi leaves, mint leaves, or some herbs.
This adds more flavours along with additional health benefits.
Tea, whether black, green, or white, when consumed on its own by infusing in hot or cold water, contains very few calories. However, most people favour milk tea.
Adding milk to it not only reduces a host of health benefits but may also diminish its value to a great extent.
Medical professionals recommend drinking tea without any flavour enhancer to ensure obtaining the full extent of its benefits.
Sure, milk is a complete food, but adding it to black tea will add nothing to the tea. Instead, it can prove to be ineffective.
So, go ahead and drink tea to boost your energy levels, but remember to drink it in the raw form by steeping it in hot water.
You may add a drop of lemon to get rid of the bitter taste instead of milk.
If you are eager to compare the pluses of green and milk tea, then it is the green tea that gets to check a majority of boxes. Check out the details below and choose the healthier option.
Both green and black teas have several shared benefits, including energy-boosting and heart health improvement.
Green tea contains additional antioxidants that add to your health.
Be mindful of drinking milk tea, for it may not be as effective as green tea and may add extra calories.
