I am quite certain that most of you are mixing various types of additives in to your tea. Among those there are quite a few which improve the tasting profile of Tea without diluting its great health benefits. Juice of citrus fruits such as lemon, lime, orange etc. is one of them. In fact it enhances natural health benefits of tea.

According to a research conducted by Sunita Tewari at Lucknow medical college in 1999, There was a significant decrease in serum lipid peroxidation half an hour after intake of tea without milk which tends to normalize after one and half hour of intake of tea. A highly significant decrease in serum lipid peroxidation level in lemon tea group was obtained after half an hour of ingestion of tea which tends to normalize after two hours. However, no significant change in serum lipid peroxidation level in case of tea with milk group was seen after half an hour of intake of tea.

Vitamin C present in citrus improves the absorption of valuable antioxidants present in tea from the digestive track. Citrus juice itself is also a powerful antioxidant. Tea can inhibit your body’s ability to absorb iron from vegetative sources. This is why we have been advised not to consume tea within one hour before and after meals. Citrus juice also counteracts this because it assists the body’s ability to absorb iron (Tea doesn’t inhibit the absorption of iron from animal sources like meat, fish etc). So if you wish to have a cup of tea with your meals, better to add few drops of lime or lemon. Citrus juice and tea both contain diuretics, which can help keeping you from retaining water.

References

1. Picture source: https://www.videoblocks.com/video/glass-teapot-and-cup-of-black-tea-with-orange-lemon-lime-and-mint-on-a-wooden-table-rug8e9cuilixykhc32
2. Lemon increases antioxidant potential: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d128/eca0fd235003f13f6e96945feec5a603d231.pdf
3. About Lemon Tea: https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-adding-lemon-black-tea-11751.html
4. 4. Tea inhibits iron absorption: http://www.healthcommunities.com/healthy-drinks/does-tea-cause-iron-deficiency_ucbwl.shtml