A new study has found that adding lemon juice and sugar to green tea can boost the absorption of beneficial compounds such as catechins.
Lemons are a rich source of ascorbic acid or vitamin C and researchers from Purdue University demonstrated that catechins can be absorbed up to three times as fast by human intestinal cells and get to the bloodstream in the presence of the vitamin.
Catechins are a group of antioxidant polyphenols that are believed to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, and in addition to tea they can be found in cocoa and grapes.
“There is a lot of interest in bioactive materials to protect people from disease and promote better health,” says Connie Weaver, head of the National Institutes of Health Purdue University-University of Alabama at Birmingham Botanical Research Center for Age-Related Diseases, which funded the study.
“Whats been totally ignored is the way these materials are found in foods in combination with other ingredients,” she adds.
For those who do not like the sour taste of lemon juice, nutritional supplements with vitamin C can be a good alternative. 