Tea research For this reason, green tea is still much healthier by still mineral water

This will make your green tea even healthier

Green tea is a drink that is associated with all kinds of positive health effects. Physicians now found that green tea consumers benefit more from the drink's antioxidants when they use still water instead of tap water, from which calcium, magnesium, and filters have been filtered out and the iron concentration has been reduced.

Cornell University's Department of Food Science scientists have found that antioxidants in green tea work better when brewed with still water from bottles. The experts published the results of their study in the English language journal "Nutrients".

Green tea is very healthy. Can the drink get even healthier by simply brewing it with bottled water? (Image: KMNPhoto / fotolia.com)

More antioxidants in tea result in a more bitter taste

If you drink green tea to help your body benefit from the drink's contained antioxidants, it may be beneficial to brew it with still water from the store rather than tap water. So you can benefit more of the antioxidants in the drink. However, more antioxidants also make the tea taste more bitter, say the researchers.

Subjects drank black and green tea in the study

More than 100 subjects were recruited for the study. The participants were then asked to taste black and green tea, which was brewed with bottled water from bottles, tap water and deionized water. In all tests, factors such as brewing temperature, vessel used, time and water-to-leaf ratio were adjusted. The scientists also measured the level of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in the tea.

Better healthier tea or better taste?

The results of the study showed that the type of water used significantly affected the taste of green tea. Participants preferred green tea when brewed with tap water because tap water produced a sweeter taste than bottled water did. However, what was lost in taste was made up for by health benefits. Brewing green tea with bottled water resulted in a doubling in the amount of EGCG, which caused the bitter taste.

In black tea, differences in taste are too subtle

If you drink green tea for its health properties, you should use bottled still water, says study author Professor Robin Dando of the Department of Food Science. Drink your tea only for the taste, tap water is better, the expert adds. The participants could not tell the difference between whether the drink was brewed with water from the faucet or water from the bottle with black tea. Study author Melanie Franks of Cornell University added that average consumers of black tea do not recognize the difference that the differences in taste are too subtle.

Why is green tea with bottled water healthier?

Professor Dando suggests that the minerals contained in tap water, such as calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium and copper, cause the brewed green tea to contain a lower EGCG content. Bottled water that has been filtered out of calcium or magnesium and that has been ironed down by one level can extract the EGCG more efficiently, the clinician adds. With pure water, you get more health benefits from consuming the tea. (As)