Bottled Teas Contain Fewer Oxidants Than Steeped Tea

Bottled teas can be highly refreshing on a hot day. However, most bottled teas do not offer the health benefits of a cup of steeped tea .
This is the finding of recent research which involved testing 49 bottled teas at an American dietary supplement company. Over 50 per cent of the bottled teas tested contained less than 10 milligrams of antioxidant polyphenols.
A normal cup of steeped tea has 50 to 100 mg of antioxidant polyphenols. Research has demonstrated that a minimum of 125 mg daily is necessary to provide health benefits.
Should you desperately want to get health benefits from bottled tea, you would need to drink ten bottles a day, which would amount to a whole load of calories and a great deal of caffeine.
Researchers studied 49 tea drinks from 18 different brands. 53 per cent of the teas had practically no polyphenols, or 10 mg or less in an eight-ounce cup. An average bottle contained 16 ounces of bottled tea.
A cup of normal steeped tea contains 50 to 100 mg, dependent on the kind of tea it is and how it is prepared.
Should the tea be steeped for too long, or permitted to cool and microwaved, the polyphenols present in the tea degrade. For the purposes of the study, the teas were steeped for four to five minutes.
In another study, 50 per cent of consumers stated that they drink bottled tea due to its perceived health benefits, which would appear to be a case in point for better labelling.