A new study has revealed surprising benefits of the tea leaves.
According to Manchester Evening News, the researchers found that the tea leaves naturally absorb significant amounts of toxic metals like lead and cadmium from the water, making it a cleaner and safer drink.
The first author of the study Benjamin Shindel, said, “Across a population, if people drink an extra cup of tea per day, maybe over time we’d see declines in illnesses that are closely correlated with exposure to heavy metals.”
“Or it could help explain why populations that drink more tea may have lower incidence rates of heart disease and stroke than populations that have lower tea consumption,” she added.
Moreover, for this study, the researchers tested different types of tea, tea bags, and brewing methods and found that finely ground black tea leaves remove most of the toxic heavy metals that can cause severe health issues like liver and kidney damage, skin disorders, cognitive impairment, and even cancer.
A team of scientists at Northwestern University in Illinois noted that if a cup of black tea is brewed for five minutes, it could reduce the concentration of lead ions by about 15%.
It was also suggested that cotton and nylon tea bags also absorbed small amounts of harmful contaminants, while the biodegradable paper worked much better.
