Hi drfishhead!
Adding lemon can actually enhance the health benefits of tea. Since
you stated "lemon juice", I should point out that the peel of the
lemon has a higher concentration of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) than the
juice, and that the peel also contains higher concentrations of active
components than do the juice and pulp. Adding a slice of lemon would
therefore be more beneficial.
Health benefits:
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Tea can inhibit iron absorption -- lemon *counteracts* the inhibitory effect
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"...tea flavonoids are known to partially inhibit absorption of iron
from plant foods, but not from animal sources. However, the amount of
iron leeched from the system is not enough to constitute an iron
deficiency threat even in a vegetarian, and if tea is not consumed
until an hour after eating, the inhibitory effect is greatly reduced.
Adding vitamin C, such as a slice of lemon, to tea serves to
counteract the inhibitory effect to some extent."
http://www.teaandcoffee.net/0804/tea.htm
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Adding lemon to tea *increases* its antioxidant potential
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"Polyphenols are secondary plant metabolites occurring widely in plant
food. They possess outstanding antioxidant properties, suggesting a
possible protective role in man. Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a widely
consumed beverage throughout the world containing polyphenols more
than 35% of its dry weight. In the present work we have investigated
the effect of tea without milk, tea with milk and lemon tea on the
serum lipid peroxidation level (as a parameter of free radical
generation). The results show that there were significant decrease in
serum lipid peroxidation (Malonaldehyde) level half hour after
ingestion of lemon tea and tea without milk which tends to normalize
with increase in time. This decrease is much significant in case of
lemon tea than tea without milk after half hour or one hour. Hence the
interpretation is, tea without milk is a good source of antioxidant
and addition of lemon to tea increases its antioxidant potential."
Tewari et al. Comparative study of antioxidant potential of tea with
and without additives.
Indian J Physiol Pharmacol 44:215-9 (2000)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10846639&dopt=Abstract
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When citrus peel is consumed together with hot black tea, the risk of skin cancer
is *reduced* by more than 70%
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"Black tea is a good source of antioxidants and addition of lemon to
tea increases its antioxidant potential [43]. Our data indicates that
among older Arizonans, citrus peel use and hot black tea intake were
each independently associated with reduced risk of skin SCC. However,
among these study subjects, citrus peel use was associated with a more
than 70% reduced risk for skin SCC, whereas hot black tea consumption
alone conferred 40% reduced risk for skin SCC. Moreover, the present
study suggested that a dietary pattern that includes the consumption
of both hot black tea and citrus peel markedly decreased the risk of
skin SCC [squamous cell carcinoma]"
Joint effects of citrus peel use and black tea intake on the risk of
squamous cell carcinoma of the skin
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-5945/1/3
Search terms:
[ health benefits "adding lemon" tea], [ health benefits "lemon to tea" ]
I hope you find this information useful.
Best regards,
Jackburton
Google Answers Researcher |
