by Gail Kavanagh

Created on: September 19, 2010

Bottled tea is widely seen by consumers as as a healthier option to soft drinks. It is cooling and refreshing, and these days comes in a wide range of flavors. It is also more convenient to carry a bottle of prepackaged tea around with you, rather than a teapot, cups, tea bags and the whole tea making paraphernalia. But how good for you is bottled tea really? Is it all the hype says it is?

Sadly, experts on health and nutrition say that bottled tea is not the health booster people like to think it is. While it is better overall than soft drinks, it still has way too much sugar, and far too few of the healthful properties of freshly brewed tea, to count as a better alternative. 

In a recent study conducted by Shiming Li, Phd, from the New Jersey based life sciences company WellGen, six brands of bottled tea from a supermarket were measured for the polyphenol content of the teas. Polyphenols are the nutrients that make tea such a powerhouse of antioxidants. Li's studies showed that the polyphenol content of bottled tea, compared to that of freshly brewed tea, in in fact extremely low. Gulping down bottled tea will not furnish you with the same antioxidants that calling into a tea shop and ordering a cuppa will.

Unfortunately, what the bottled tea lacked in polyphenols, it made up for in sugar, making it unsuitable for anyone who was on a diabetic or weight reducing diet. The reason there are less polyphenols and more sugar is to make the bottled tea more palatable. By using less actual tea in the bottled tea, and more sugar, the product is sweeter and contains less of the bitter tasting polyphenols.

Only bottled water outsells tea in the USA, in the mistaken belief that the bottled tea offers more protection against diseases through its high content of antioxidants. To get the best from tea you need to accept the natural taste, and brew a fresh cuppa. But what if you are going hiking, or don't have time to stop and let a cafe brew tea for you? 

The answer is to make your own bottled tea at home, where you can regulate the amount of sweetness you use, and make a stronger brew that will actually have health benefits. Steep two or three green tea bags, or two teaspoons of green tea leaves, in hot water. Instead of white sugar, add some honey if you want to sweeten it. This will make your home brewed tea even healthier for you. You can also add the squeezed juice of a lemon or orange. Now strain the tea, cool it in the fridge and bottle it. You will have a great tasting bottled tea that you can take with you, and which will, unlike commercial varieties, actually deliver the health benefits of tea.

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