In a recent paper in the Review of Statistics and Economics, economist Francisca Antman of the University of Colorado, Boulder, makes a convincing case that the explosion of tea as an everyman’s drink in late 1700s England saved many lives. This would not have been because of any antioxidants or other substances inherent to the lauded leaf.
Instead, the simple practice of boiling water for tea, in an era before people understood that illness could be caused by water-borne pathogens, may have been enough to keep many from an early grave.
Source: How Britain’s taste for tea may have been a life saver
by Veronique Greenwood
I was expecting the benefit of tea might be less drinking of beer, I guess boiling water does make a lot of sense.