We often hear / read that drinking tea (specially green or matcha tea) can help us lose that extra weight. But is that also true for our very milk tea which almost all of us are so fond of.Most of us Indians love our masala milk tea. However, when it comes to healthy tea options, it may not be the best option. Let us see why drinking milk tea isn’t really healthy. I’ll also discuss some tips to increase the benefits of milk tea.
Health benefits of drinking tea
- It’s loaded with antioxidants
- Drinking tea boosts immunity and metabolism
- Relaxes the blood vessels
- Tea is good for the brain, it stimulates the nervous system
- Reduces cell damage
- Reduces oxidative effects
- Good for the heart health
- Reduces blood sugar
- Is anti inflammatory and also has anti ageing properties
Is milk tea good or bad for weight loss ?
- Due to the incompatibility of protein casein in milk and antioxidants present in the tea, the effect and presence of antioxidants reduces
- This invariably reduces the health benefits of tea for the human body
- Adding milk in your tea can cause acidity, gas and may hamper your body’s natural metabolism
- Calorie comparisons
- Black tea / green tea / matcha tea without adding sweetners contain about 02 calories
- 1/2 cup of dairy milk on the other hand contains about 52 calories (depending on what type of milk you’re using)
- 1 tsp sugar has about 16 calories
- This simply means that by adding milk to your tea the calorie intake from very less goes up to almost 70 odd calories
- When we add milk in our tea, we invariably tend to over cook our tea, this increases the caffeine content
- This caffeine content is very high as compared to green tea
Avoid adding too much milk to your tea
- It might add to the taste a little bit but when you talk about general health benefits and weight loss, adding milk in high quantity to your tea is not recommended
- Drink your tea slightly ‘kadak’ (less milk)
Add herbs and spices instead
- Adding herbs and spices to your tea is a very good alternate to milk
- It increases antioxidants and relaxes your brain
- Adding herbs and spices reduces acidity and bloating
- It also boosts immunity and metabolism
- Herbs and spices like tulsi (basil), ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and black pepper add amazing flavours to your tea apart from having numerous health benefits
Do not consume tea first thing in morning
- Many of us have an habit of waking up to a cup of tea
- Having tea in bed is something which is not very uncommon
- You need to line your stomach with food before you drink tea or coffee
- Tea or coffee contains caffeine which may trigger the stomach acids and wreck havoc with your digestion
- Instead drink warm water, lemon juice with honey, jeera water, ajwain water or apple cider vinegar in the morning
Add natural sweetners
- Natural sweetners like jaggery are much better to use
- Apart from being devoid of artificial additives, jaggery has numerous other health benefits
Add alternate milk
- Options like plant milk, almond milk, coconut milk and oat milk are better health options as compared to normal milk
We all have our favourite methods of consuming tea. However, making small changes in ingredients will ensure that the tea you have is healthier apart from tasting really good!