Iced Tea and Antioxidants

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last 10 years, you've no doubt heard that teas (hot or iced, black or green) are good sources of antioxidants. And it's true. Which is good news for me, given that I drink tea 3 meals a day, and usually a lot in between: hot for breakfast, and iced for lunch and dinner.

(And I'm from the South, which means we drink it heavily iced. And even if the snowflakes are falling outside, we still fill the glass with ice. I do commit a minor Southern heresy, because I usually drink iced tea unsweetened -- I've grown fond of the slightly bitter taste).

But at least one website is now saying that iced tea is not a good antioxidant source. Where they get this from, I don't know, because it's not true. Both hot and iced teas are good antioxidant sources.

I dislike saying this, because I don't like thinking of food as medicine. (Nothing irritates me more than people who brag about, say, drinking a glass of wine every night "because it's good for me.") Enjoy your food, eat good stuff, and don't worry about it all the time. But this is one case where a food people have enjoyed for thousands of years and is enjoyed today by billions of people is good for you.