When life gives you lemons... make tea!
While the British and Russians have been putting a squeeze of lemon in their tea for centuries, there might actually be something more to it than accenting the taste of brisk tea. Two studies have shown that the addition of citrus can help make your tea even healthier.
Purdue University researchers showed that adding ascorbic acid works to increase your body’s absorption of polyphenol antioxidants, the key active ingredients in tea.[1] Ascorbic acid is a natural water-soluble vitamin (Vitamin C) present in high levels in citrus fruits. The ascorbic acid helps to preserve the polyphenols as they go through the digestive process. This can increase the potential bioavailability of the antioxidants by up to 10 times.
Results from another study, of over 42,000 Japanese men and women, age 40-79, found that eating citrus fruit every day and also drinking at least one cup of green tea a day correlated significantly with reduced cancer risk. [2]
Our Favorite Teas to Pair with a Squeeze of Citrus
- Earl of Grey with a lemon or grapefruit
- Blood Orange Smoothie with blood orange, of course
- Decaf Lemon Ginger with lemon
- Morning Mojo with orange
- Clouds & Mist (or any straight green tea) with lemon
- Ceylon (or any straight black tea) with lemon
So the next time you’re thinking about adding some citrusy tang to your tea, don’t hesitate! It can actually increase the staying power of the antioxidants present in your tea. Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments below! Alternatively, explore our Citrus Tea Collection.
REFERENCES:
[1] Catrina M. Peters, Rodney J. Green, Elsa M. Janle, Mario G. Ferruzzi, Formulation with ascorbic acid and sucrose modulates catechin bioavailability from green tea, Food Research International, Volume 43, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 95-102
[2] Li WQ, Kuriyama S, Li Q, Nagai M, Hozawa A, Nishino Y, Tsuji I. Citrus consumption and cancer incidence: the Ohsaki cohort study. Int J Cancer. 2010 Oct 15;127(8):1913-22. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25203. PMID: 20104526.