Did Broadchurch's DI Hardy murder his tea by putting it in the microwave? The Broadchurch character was witnessed in Monday evening’s episode making himself a cup of tea with the assistance of a microwave. How could he? Shame on him! Has he no sense of common decency?
Not according to Dr Vuong, who works at the University of Newcastle on the New South Wales Central Coast and specialises in finding ways to "add value" to natural products by extracting bioactive compounds with antioxidant capacities.
He found that to extract, isolate and purify the important components of green tea and black tea, the following method activated 80 per cent of the caffeine, theanine and polyphenol compounds, and generated the best taste:
|
Polyphenols are antioxidants which are linked to good health properties like lowered cardiovascular disease and lower cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes, and theanine is an essential amino acid that promotes relaxation and can be found in tea, some other plant foods and mushrooms.
Dr Vuong reckons the health benefits are linked to high consumption or equivalent to more than three cups of tea a day. Three cups of tea? That's just the beginning for me! Add to this that I shall forthwith microwave them all and chances are I'll be keeping Nerada Tea in business for many more years to come.
