Green tea and Milk tea are two popular types of beverages that people regularly consume. Their intake is not only for the purpose of health benefits but is a preference for their daily habits.

Let us find the differences between the two considering the following points.

• Components
• Consumption
• Variations
• Health benefits
• Preparation methods

We will later gauge at what happens if we add milk to the green tea and its possible effects. Let’s find out who wins!

Components

Fluoride

The fluoride content in the green tea is very high. It is thus an excellent input to strengthen your bones and improve dental health. On the other hand, milk lessens the fluoride component from the tea. Therefore, Milk Tea does not have much of fluoride.

Caffeine

The caffeine content is more in some milk teas compared to the green tea. Since caffeine is a good energy booster, an excess consumption of milk tea can cause increased heart rate and a high BP.

The caffeine content is higher in the milk tea since the tea leaves added to the milk are that of the black tea. An 8-ounce cup of milk tea brewed for 3 minutes is likely to have 30 – 80 mg of caffeine content.

Antioxidants

The antioxidants in the form of catechins are in abundance in the green tea. The catechins help the body prevent several diseases. The milk in the milk tea lowers down the absorption of antioxidants in the body.

Consumption

Milk tea is popular in various parts of the world. It is one of the highly fancied beverages in countries like India. Milk tea is basically the black tea that has added milk, thus, termed as milk tea.

It is also a popularly consumed beverage in places like Ireland, England, Canada, Scotland, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka.

The green tea is the native of China. But, it has gained a lot of popularity and is known for its health benefits across the globe. It is generally consumed without an addition of anything except for water and the green tea leaves.

Variations

There are a lot of variations of the milk and the green tea. Popular varieties of the milk tea are:

• Cream tea – It is prepared using heavy cream added to the black tea. It is popular in Germany, East Friesland and is commonly known as the East Friesian Tea.
• Hong Kong Milk tea – it is also termed as pantyhose Milk tea. It is a prevalent version of the tea made from the evaporated milk.
• Tea latte – This variant is common in North America, Europe and various other parts of the world.
• Cow, buffalo, yak milk – The tea here is prepared using any of these animals’ milk. It is highly widespread in India and its surrounding nations.

Popular variants of green tea are:

• Sencha – It is the basic and commonly known variant of green tea that is prepared via steaming the leaves and rolling them to produce crude tea.
• Fukamushi Sencha – The steaming process of this variant is twice as that of Sencha tea. Since it is more exposed to the heat, it has a stronger taste and a dark green color. It begets unique components that can never be dissolved in the water but absorbed by the body.
• Gyokuro – It is prepared by covering the tea bushes with a cloth for at least 20 days prior to its harvesting. The limited light enhances its catechin content. This lowers the astringency and builds a rich flavor.
• Matcha – Matcha is a popular drink used in Japanese traditional ceremonies. Unlike any other variant of green tea, matcha as a leaf is fully consumed along with the tea.

There are many more variants of green tea such as Tencha, Hojicha, Genmaicha, Shincha, Nibancha, Ichibanha, Sabancha, etc.

Health Benefits

Benefits of adding milk to the tea

Milk tea, as the name suggests, is prepared by adding milk in the black tea. The milk makes the drink less astringent and gives it a real flavor.

The milk binds up with various chemical components enhancing its taste. Milk tea is a vigorous dairy substitute.

Using almond, rice or soy milk in the tea ensures the consumption of healthy ingredients of the tea in an appetizing form.

Milk has lots of calcium and is abundant with vitamin D. These components are vital to maintain the body functioning, get stronger teeth, harden your bones, regulate the heart rhythm, etc.

As per the Food and Drug Administration research and stats, for a 3-ounce low-fat serving, every 1 percent of the milk will contain 114 mg calcium. This provides 11 percent of it based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Benefits of green tea

The green tea is known for its bioactive compounds that aid in improving health and brain functions. It boosts up the energy to help the body operate smartly. The tea also has fat burning properties.

It is known to lower down various cancer risks by confiscating the danger cells in the body.

Further, it is also an excellent source of reducing the risk of Parkinson and Alzheimer. Its unique properties have the ability to kill bacteria and enhance your dental health.

They are popular among patients having diabetes II and have also proved in evading the risks related to cardiovascular diseases. It is, ultimately, an overall addition you can make to improve your lifestyle and live it healthily!

• Heart health – The green tea has abundant of ECGC content. It builds a lining along your blood vessels and reduces stress. The milk on the other side contributes to an increase in the cholesterol.
• Weight loss – The green tea is a perfect solution for weight loss. Since it has the fat burning properties, people prefer having it post their workouts. Milk tea has a lot of fat and calories in it. This is because of the milk present that holds the two components.
• Detoxification – The detoxification in the consumption of green tea is better. It enhances your quality of skin as well as the immunity of the body. The milk fat does not allow the same benefits.
• Breathing effects – The green tea will never coat your tongue thus avoiding bad breaths. The milk tea has the possibilities of coating your tongue causing bad breaths.

Preparation Methods

How much milk should we add to prepare milk tea?

There is no perfect measure as such about adding milk. It completely depends on your personal taste. Some people do not add water at all and add the black tea leaves directly in the boiling milk.

On the other hand, people prefer having black tea in its raw form and add merely a single spoon of milk to it.

Thus, the milk tea preparation entirely depends on what taste you incline to develop.

For a homemade masala chai, people use equal amounts of water and milk for a perfect cup. The milk tea is prepared at 100 degrees. Brew or dip the tea bags for 4 minutes and serve hot.

Green tea

The preparation process of green tea is the simplest. It simply involves the addition of two ingredients that is, water and the green tea leaves.

Boil the water at 80 degrees and add the tea leaves. Keep it boiling for 3-4 minutes and strain it out. You will have your green tea prepared!

Can you drink green tea with milk? Does adding milk to green tea decrease the health benefits?

While we talk about the milk tea, we generally assume it to be milk added to the black tea. However, here comes up a new study of possible benefits and effects of having milk tea with brewed green tea leaves.

Let us find out possible merits and demerits of adding milk to the green tea. Let us also understand its possible side effects and methods to prepare the same.

Milk is generally considered to be added to a popular green tea type called matcha. Since it does not involve brewing, people consider adding milk and sweeteners to it.

To prepare the green milk tea, one may add an equal amount of water and milk and then the tea leaves along with sweeteners. However, there are no proven benefits of adding milk to the green tea.

In fact, the milk, though healthy in itself, evades all the health benefits of the green tea leaves.

Milk has a component called casein that sticks from flavanols present in tea losing its benefits. Milk has the capacity to reduce the catechins, a type of antioxidants presents in the tea, ultimately leaving the drink with no benefits.

All that milk can do to the tea is add a flavor, but it still does not have any proven benefits.

As an alternative, one can consider adding lemon to the drink, that not only adds flavor but also enhances the benefits of tea to the body.

Which is healthier, Green Tea or the Milk Tea? – The Conclusion

The milk and the green tea are two popular tea variants across the globe. However, comparing the two in terms of their health benefits, the green tea obviously wins.

This is because of the milk content, though has its own benefits, ruins the effect of the content present in the tea leaves. While milk tea has always been a popular beverage, the green tea is overtaking its importance by delivering immense health benefits.

In order to evade the demerits of milk tea, it is better to consume black tea in its raw form or by adding lemon to it.

Doctors profoundly suggest drinking milk separately in its natural way to gain its actual benefits. Being a dominant source of calcium, doctors recommend at least 2 glasses of milk every day.

Furthermore, it enhances the digestion if consumed before getting into the bed at night.

The tea, on the other hand, is better for consumption early in the morning or during the day since it is an energy booster to the body and the mind.

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