Tea with cheesecake is a classic British tea party.
But experts at Food Chemistry Journal are sounding the alarm: tannins in tea form insoluble complexes with the calcium in cheese, blocking its absorption.
"It's like throwing money away - you're eating expensive cheese but not getting any benefit from it," says Dr Michael Mosley in the BBC documentary The Truth About Food.
Chef Gordon Ramsay admitted in an interview with Esquire:
"In my restaurants, tea is served only with unsalted biscuits. The combination with cheese is a culinary crime."
Alexey's review from Moscow confirms:
"After drinking tea with brie and earl grey, I felt nauseous. The gastroenterologist explained that the tannins in the tea irritate the mucous membrane, and the fatty cheese increases the load on the liver."
Scientists at the University of Toronto suggest a compromise: if you can't give up cheese, drink white tea.
Its mild flavor and low tannin content reduce the risk of adverse reactions.
Fun fact: In Japan, the cheese is traditionally paired with oolong tea, which contains fat-neutralizing L-theanine, according to the Journal of Asian Gastronomy .
Author: Sergey Tumanov