Tea or Water? Both!

Dr. Ruxton said: "Drinking tea is actually better for you than drinking water. Water is essentially replacing fluid. Tea replaces fluids and contains antioxidants so it's got two things going for it." Tea is rehydrating. She said it was an urban myth that tea is dehydrating. "Studies on caffeine have found very high doses dehydrate and everyone assumes that caffeine-containing beverages dehydrate. But even if you had a really, really strong cup of tea or coffee, which is quite hard to make, you would still have a net gain of fluid.

Besides the fact that tea is as much a rehydrating agent as water, it is an extremely potent antioxidant and anticancer agent. This is mostly due to the flavonoids and polyphenol antioxidants that are natural ingredients in the beverage. A cup of tea contains fluoride, which is good for the teeth," stated Public health nutritionist Dr. Carrie Ruxton who took part in the investigation.

There was no evidence that tea consumption was harmful to health. However, research suggests that tea can impair the body's ability to absorb iron from food; meaning people at risk of anemia should avoid drinking tea around mealtimes. Dr.Ruxton's team found average tea consumption was just less than three cups per day. She said the increasing popularity of soft drinks meant many people were not drinking as much tea as before. "Tea drinking is most common in older people, the 40 plus age range. In older people, tea sometimes made up about 70% of fluid intake so it is a really important contributor," she said.