Personal story – I love iced tea, and nothing beats several glasses of chilled iced tea following a long bike ride in the summer. I’ll power up with water during the ride, but when I’m back in the kitchen I’m all about the tea. Various friends have commented that I shouldn’t hit the tea following a ride – that it has too much caffeine and sugar. The irony is that some of these friends say this whilst guzzling a sports drink.
Now I feel somewhat vindicated following a recent study from the experts at the Institute of Food Technology, which found that sports drinks and enhanced waters can’t replace tea, coffee and low-fat milk for nutrition and workout recovery.
This is because tea has antioxidants, coffee has polyphenols and milk of course has both protein and vitamin D. Now of course the best advice is to eat some fruits and veggies after a workout too. But as for a post-workout drink, you actually can’t go bad with tea or coffee.
The irony has been that while I’m an active guy, and a self-professed fitness junkie, some colleagues have said, “but you drink so much tea.” The strange twist is that new findings suggest tea can boost immunity – which could explain why I’m rarely sick – and aid weight loss for physically active individuals. I’m pretty lean, so that could explain it.
All this means is that I’ll keep brewing the tea and have an ample supply for that post-ride beverage.
[Via EmaxHealth: Nutrition and workout recovery best from tea, coffee and milk]