From the BBC, “How Britain’s taste for tea may have been a life saver”:
Economist Francisca Antman of the University of Colorado, Boulder, makes a convincing case that the explosion of tea as an everyman's drink in late 1700s England saved many lives. This would not have been because of any antioxidants or other substances inherent to the lauded leaf.Orange Crate Art is a tea-friendly zone.
Instead, the simple practice of boiling water for tea, in an era before people understood that illness could be caused by water-borne pathogens, may have been enough to keep many from an early grave.
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All OCA tea posts (Pinboard)