Teapot 'is the healthiest option'

A news item on the BBC News website alerted me to research findings from scientists in Aberdeen who have shown that the traditional way of making tea in a pot is healthier than dunking a bag in a cup! Earlier research has discovered that antioxidants in tea can help protect against things like cancer and heart disease, but it now appears that our cup (or mug) only gets the maximum amount of these chemicals when the tea is given proper time to brew.

Professor Garry Duthie of the Rowett Research Institute says: "We found that if you let your tea infuse for about five minutes you would get the maximum amount of these chemicals. If you left it any longer than that it didn't really increase the levels very much and it didn't really make a difference if it was tea bags or tea leaves." The researchers also found that adding milk to a cup of tea had no effect on its cancer-fighting properties.