A recent study presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society revealed that bottled tea contains very low levels of antioxidants and polyphenols compared to brewed tea. The research found that in order to get the same benefits found in a single cup of brewed tea the consumer, in some cases would have to drink 20 bottles of bottled tea.
Consumers understand the concept of the health benefits from drinking tea or consuming other tea products. However, 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 says Shiming Li, Ph.D, who reported the findings of Professor Chi-Tang Ho
Tea has without question tremendous health improving qualities, however the bottled tea was found to be poor in these qualities. In addition bottled tea contains sugar and other substances that the drinker may be trying to avoid.
Li and team measured polyphenol levels in six brands of tea bought from supermarkets. Half of them contained "virtually no antioxidants" while the rest had small quantities of polyphenols which would most likely carry little health benefit, especially when the high sugar content was taken into consideration.
Polyphenols are a type of antioxidant that protect cells against some health conditions, as well as being an anti-aging substance. They can block the actions of some enzymes that help the development of cancer. All brewed tea contains polyphenols. Put simply, polyphenols are an excellent protection against diabetes, cancer and anti-inflammatory conditions.
Polyphenols are bitter and astringent, but to target as many consumers as they can, manufacturers want to keep the bitterness and astringency at a minimum. The simplest way is to add less tea, which makes the tea polyphenol content low, but tastes smoother and sweeter.
