Most teas do have some health benefits, from aiding digestion and easing bloating to improving sleep. But when it comes to staving off the menopause or magicking up weight loss, many claims associated with teas that are often more pricey than your average English breakfast are hard to prove. And for others, similar benefits can be gained just as easily by a good old-fashioned brew.
Made from a blend of black teas, English breakfast has many of the same benefits associated with those do-good leaves and bags we buy when we feel we need a health boost, and then promptly forget about, leaving box after box to clutter up the cupboard.
Like all tea, breakfast-style contains biologically active chemicals, including flavonoids, which are credited with antioxidant properties, as well as helping to reduce cholesterol, blood clotting and improve dilation of blood vessels in the heart.
One study by US researchers found that drinking black tea (which includes English breakfast) could prevent or reverse some types of artery diseases and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Another study, published in The Journal of Nutrition, found that black-tea consumption may help lower cholesterol levels in high-cholesterol adults, while a study from the University of California in 2017 suggested that English breakfast tea might aid weight loss by boosting your metabolism – but only when drunk without milk.
In more good news for fans of the strong stuff, researchers at Rutgers University published promising research identifying a compound in black tea known as theaflavin-3-monogallate that caused colorectal cancer cells to destroy themselves.
It’s not just physical health that a cup of tea could help. A study by UCL has suggested that tea could help limit spikes in the stress hormone cortisol, while another found evidence that caffeine and L-Theanine, a naturally-occurring amino acid found in tea, can improve reaction time and memory, helping with focus and concentration.
“Breakfast tea is made using black tea, which is a great source of polyphenols,” explains Dr Sarah Cooke, a GP specialising in nutrition. “Polyphenols are brilliant for health, as they have antioxidant properties, helping mitigate harm from UV rays and pollution. Polyphenols have also been linked in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.”
Dr Cooke points out that black and green tea “generally contain the highest concentrations of polyphenols”, and that “herbal teas, such as camomile and peppermint, often contain lower levels of polyphenols. If you want a good dose of antioxidants, then a British cup of tea can certainly help with this,” she continues. “In addition, it’s generally cheaper than a lot of other varieties.”
It certainly does my bank balance more good to put an affordable box of builder’s tea in my basket than a more expensive sachet of bags that claim to help me “relax” or “find peace”.
And while some health claims might be true for all teas, nutrition coach and appetite psychologist Dr Emily Wilkinson thinks we might be wasting our time hoping tea is the answer to all our woes.
“There will be things in herbal tea that are associated with health benefits. However, when you have them in tea, they are heavily diluted and often not in a high enough concentration to have any significant effect. With that in mind, drink the tea you like! Life’s too short not to enjoy a cup of proper tea.”
