Sports drinks and enhanced waters have become extremely popular among athletes and consumers who want to live a healthy lifestyle. Yet a growing body of evidence points to old-school beverages tea, coffee and low-fat or chocolate milk as the best elixirs for nutrition, health and workout recovery.



For hundreds of years, ancient cultures have relied on tea for medicinal purposes, and modern science is now verifying why. Tea is an antioxidant-rich beverage containing more polyphenols than many fruits and vegetables. Besides being rich in compounds that combat cell-damaging oxidative stress, tea has a chemical makeup that includes enzymes, carbohydrates, protein, and lipids. Oxidative stress is a molecular imbalance that interferes with the body's ability to detoxify harmful compounds leading to cellular damage and is associated with chronic health problems such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, dementia, and even cancer. Packed with compounds that protect cells from oxidative stress, tea has emerged as a natural dietary aid to lower the risk of these ailments. Research indicates that tea strengthens the body's immune system, reduces buildup of plaque on arterial walls, and aids in the control and prevention of diabetes.



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