A warm cup of tea is better than water. Well, duh. Medical research proves what tea drinkers the world over had always known deep in their gut: tea does the body good. Then again, proper medical research is very useful because (a) it legitimizes or debunks certain practices conducted with an end towards good health (like, for example, drinking tea), and (b) they sometimes find out new things even those who advocate a health-related practice didn't know about. Like now.

An article on tea in The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that drinking tea may protect you from developing heart disease and certain kinds of cancer. Also, three or more cups a a day may also contribute to strong teeth and bones. It could be the added milk in milk teas, but those same scientists also found fluoride in tea - the same chemical found in minty-fresh toothpastes and mouthwashes.

Honestly speaking, it's nothing new or earth-shattering, but there is one finding in the study that is new and worthy to report. The idea that tea dehydrates the body? Bunkum. Myth. Nuh-uh. Tea hydrates the body just as well as old-fashioned H#@%!89#@%!0. Even considering the caffeine content of a strong cup of tea - and caffeine has a strong dehydrating effect - there is still "a net gain" in fluid intake. Unlike water, though, tea also carries those wonderful benefits we just talked about, making tea into a sort of Gatorade.

The same report, researched and written by the King's College of London, also notes that Britons are drinking less tea than before, possibly because the younger generation has taken to drinking softdrinks instead. Poor young'uns. They don't know what they're missing.