Your morning cuppa might taste even better after reading this.
Tea has long been among the most popular beverages in the world. People drink tea in the morning with breakfast, in between meals for an afternoon caffeine hit and to relax before bed. Now, there's another good reason to consuming tea in addition to its natural longevity-boosting benefits.
In a recent study out of Northwestern University, researchers found that tea leaves absorb toxic heavy metals, like lead and cadmium, "effectively filtering dangerous contaminants out of drinks. Heavy metal ions stick to, or adsorb to, the surface of the tea leaves, where they stay trapped."
“You’re taking the metals out of the water with the tea, but you don’t consume the tea leaves after, which is why it works,” lead author Benjamin Shindel told The Washington Post. However, the type of tea and steeping speed make a difference.
After comparing the metal content in water before and after steeping a range of tea leaves (including black, green, oolong, and white), the research team found that the longer the steep time, the better. “Brewing tea for longer periods or even overnight - like iced tea - will recover most of the metal or maybe even close to all of the metal in the water,” Shindel explained.
Finely ground black tea was also slightly more effective than whole leaves, and cellulose bags worked the best due to the high surface area, which gives metal ions plenty of space to cling onto. Time for another brew?