Tea is known to be one of the healthiest drinks. And the benefits are not just what is found in the cup, but what is not in it.
The brewing tea process has been shown to remove toxic heavy metals from Drinking water In a new study at Northwestern University, Illinois.
For a typical cup of tea (one water and one bag of tea was brewed for 3-5 minutes), preparations can remove about 15% of lead from drinking water, the researchers said in a press release.
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During brewing, heavy metals such as lead and cadmium are absorbed by the tea leaves and prevented from entering the water.
The findings were published this week in the Journal ACS Food Science & Technology.
The brewing tea process has been shown in a new study from Northwestern University in Illinois to remove toxic heavy metals from drinking water. (istock)
“It seems very likely that most people will have a measurable impact on how they brew tea. Lead consumption“Benjamin Sindel, the first author of Northwestern’s research, told Fox News Digital.
He said that longer teas are brewed, the metal content increases.
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“Tea soaked for longer or with a higher surface area will effectively repair more heavy metals,” Sindel said.
“Some people brew tea for a few seconds, but they don’t get much restoration. But brewing tea for longer periods or overnight will restore most metals or even all metals in the water, like iced tea.”
The longer tea is brewed, the lower the metal content, the researchers said. (istock)
During the study, researchers tested different types of tea, tea bags and brewing methods to measure how much they absorbed lead, chromium, copper, zinc and cadmium.
Absorbent effects were seen across a wide range of tea types, Sindel noted even from tea bags derived from wood.
Cellulose tea bags have been found to be absorbed much more than cotton and nylon bags, researchers found.
For a typical tea, preparations can remove about 15% of the lead from the drinking water.
Researchers say that tea leaves have a “highly active surface area” that makes them ideal for absorbing materials.
“Tea leaves with large surface areas may also be seen in slight metal repairs through processing or grinding,” he added. “Simply pour the leaves into water and soak them to remove the metal naturally.”
“Lead contamination in drinking water is widespread, even in schools and child-rearing centres,” an expert told Fox News Digital. (istock)
The team was surprised by the impact they saw after spending just a little time.
Benjamin Sindel, the first author of Northwestern’s research, told Fox News Digital.
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“I was surprised that even just a few minutes later, I was able to see a small but significant amount of metal repair while preparing tea.”
Despite these findings, researchers warned that people should not rely on tea to clean their water.
“I was surprised that even just a few minutes later, I was able to see a small but significant amount of metal repair while preparing tea.” (istock)
“We are not even public health researchers, so it is still unclear whether the levels of lead reduction observed in our study will be converted to the entire population. Health benefitsSindel said.
“But I think it’s useful for people to know that brewed tea is a margin and reduces consumption of drinking water, lead content and perhaps other toxins.”
“After just a few minutes, we were able to see a fair amount of metal repairs, though small.”
The findings help explain why the population who drink more tea is lower incidence Heart disease And Sindel noted that there was more stroke than in groups with less tea consumption.
“In the population, if people drink extra tea per day, we may see a reduction in diseases that are closely correlated with heavy metal exposure, probably over time,” he said.
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John Rumler, the study’s lead author and director of the Clean Water Program for Environmental America, noted that the lead is extremely toxic to children.
“Lead contamination still Drinking water He told Fox News Digital.
“Brewing tea for longer periods or overnight tea, like iced tea, will restore closeness to most metals or all metals in the water.” (istock)
“While this new study doesn’t allow you to read any tea leaves, we know that there are certified filters to remove lead from drinking water,” Lamper continued.
“Schools and child-rearing centres should replace old fountains with lead filtering water stations and replace lead pipes wherever possible.”
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Northwest research was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Paula M. Trienel.
