Bottled vs. brewed teas: Study reveals healthiest teas

August 22, 2010

Consumers looking for boost of antioxidants may not get what they pay for

By LiveScience staff

updated 58 minutes ago

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Labels on bottled tea beverages are typically plastered with declarations of

their rich antioxidant content. But a new study suggests, if you're looking for

high doses of healthful antioxidants, you might be better off brewing your tea

at home.

Many of the popular beverages included in the study contain fewer antioxidants

than a single cup of home-brewed green or black tea, the researchers say. Some

store-bought teas contain such small amounts that consumers would have to drink

20 bottles to get the antioxidants, also called polyphenols, present in one cup

of tea.

" There is a huge gap between the perception that tea consumption is healthy and

the actual amount of the healthful nutrients — polyphenols — found in bottled

tea beverages. Our analysis of tea beverages found that the polyphenol content

is extremely low, " said study researcher Shiming Li, an analytical and natural

product chemist at WellGen, Inc., a biotechnology company in North Brunswick,

N.J., that develops medical foods for patients with diseases, including a

proprietary black tea product that will be marketed for its anti-inflammatory

benefits.

In addition, bottled beverages often contain large amounts of sugar that

health-conscious consumers may be trying to avoid, Li said.

The study was presented Aug. 22 at the 240th National Meeting of the American

Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.

Bottled vs. brewed

Antioxidants are substances that protect cells against damage from unstable

molecules called free radicals. They may play a role in preventing a host of

diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's.

Li and colleagues measured the level of polyphenols of six brands of tea

purchased from supermarkets. Half of them contained what Li characterized as

" virtually no " antioxidants. The rest had small amounts of polyphenols that Li

said probably would carry little health benefit, especially when considering the

high sugar intake from tea beverages.

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