More flavor and more benefits

A study has found that citrus juices enhance the permanence in the body, after digestion, of a greater part of the unique antioxidants of green tea. Find out how they can do it in this article…

When you hear about the medicinal properties of a plant, surely one of the ones you think about is tea. True?

It is that the Camelia sinensis, has become famous for the numerous healing properties that it possesses and provides to the different varieties of tea that come from it.

One of its most pondered attributes is its antioxidant property, which is mainly provided by the catechins present in its leaves. The variety of green tea is the one that has them in greater concentration.

Apparently, a study shows that citrus juices could help boost the permanence in the body, a good part of the antioxidants contained in green tea.

Do you want to know what it was about?

How was the investigation

The study has been carried out through an experiment in which the process of digestion has been simulated. Apparently, according to the resulting data, the combination of tea and citrus fruit would be more beneficial than previously thought.

Therefore, adding some citrus juice to your cup of tea will not only be exquisite to the palate but also more beneficial, if possible.

According to the study that compared the effect of various liquid additives on catechins (antioxidants naturally present in tea).

The results of the study suggest that combining the consumption of green tea with citrus juices or vitamin C, could increase the amount of catechins available for the body to absorb. Do not you think it’s incredible?

According to Mario Ferruzzi, professor of Food Sciences at Purdue University and lead author of the study, “although these results are preliminary, I think it is encouraging that a large part of the problem is reduced to elementary chemistry,” he says.

Despite the beneficial effect of tea catechins, their problem is that they are relatively unstable in low acid environments, such as the intestine.

Less than 20 percent of the total remain after digestion. This is the main reason for the success of this study in which citrus juices would be responsible for guaranteeing this permanence, in a completely natural way.

Conclusions of the study

Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, used to prolong the shelf life of beverages, increases the recovered levels of the two most abundant catechins in green tea.

In addition, the study found that lemon juice retained 80 percent of the tea’s catechins. After the lemon, in order of importance are the juices of orange, lime and grapefruit.

The researcher intuits, according to the results in Tai Ping Hou Kui Tea, that this study could also be applied to black tea. Many people prefer the taste of black tea, although it contains a lower concentration of catechins.

Have you already squeezed the juice to add to your tea?