White Coat Notes

Bottled tea might be less beneficial than brewed tea

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August 30, 2010

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If you drink tea for its health benefits, brewed may be better than bottled, according to new research presented at a scientific meeting in Boston last week. Only tiny amounts of healthful antioxidants, hailed for possibly guarding against a host of diseases, were found in bottled tea beverages compared with a freshly made cup of tea.

Shiming Li and his colleagues at WellGen Inc. in North Brunswick, N.J., measured the polyphenol content of six brands of bottled tea bought at a local grocery store. Polyphenols are antioxidants that calm inflammation in the body, which has been linked to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. WellGen is an early-stage company developing foods — including one containing black tea — that target diseases related to inflammation.

Naturally found in green and black tea, the bitter-tasting polyphenols can vary from 50 to 150 milligrams in a cup of brewed tea, Li said during his presentation at the American Chemical Society conference. That range includes the 125 milligram dose believed to offer health benefits, he said, citing previous research.

But polyphenols quickly break down, even while a tea bag steeps in hot water. When tea is bottled, they fade away even more, Li said. None of the bottled teas he tested contained more than 81 milligrams of polyphenols per 16-ounce bottle. Others contained such small amounts that it would take 20 bottles of tea to equal one brewed cup of tea, the researchers found. He did not name the brands, saying there was wide variation within and between brands.

While polyphenol content was low, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup were high.

To make the teas taste less tart, sweeteners are added at about the same levels found in soda, further fading the aura of healthfulness. Bottled teas may also be watered down, Li said.

There are no government rules related to polyphenols in foods or their labeling, Li said.

“Many publications say that tea has good health benefits, so labeling and measurement for tea polyphenols should be standardized,’’ he said.

E.C.

Cognitive behavioral therapy scored well for adult ADHD

Adults who take medications to treat their attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder may still be easily distracted or struggle with impulsivity that disrupts their daily lives. New research suggests that a type of counseling may help people improve their persistent symptoms, even long after their sessions end.

Steven Safren, director of behavioral medicine in Massachusetts General Hospital’s psychiatry department, led a team of researchers who studied 86 adults with ADHD who were being treated with various medications. The participants were randomly assigned to receive cognitive behavioral therapy or to learn relaxation techniques for three months. They also got educational support about ADHD.

In individual cognitive behavioral therapy sessions, the participants learned how to solve problems, organize and plan tasks based on their attention spans, reduce distractibility, and break down overwhelming challenges into more manageable chunks. They were also trained to think about distressing situations in new ways.

Relaxation group participants learned progressive muscle relaxation and other calming techniques. They were also trained to call on these skills when feeling distracted or overwhelmed.

After six and nine months, a clinician, who did not know which treatment the participants got, assessed the 70 people who finished treatment and completed follow-up evaluations. Two-thirds of the people in the cognitive behavioral therapy group improved, compared with a third of the people in the relaxation group, based on a scale that measures ADHD symptoms.

The study, which appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association, provides good evidence for adding cognitive behavioral therapy to medications for adults with ADHD, especially in light of other research, Safren said. E.C.