Nowadays it often seems as if everything we eat or drink is bad for us in some way. Foods once considered healthy and nourishing contain, we are told, ingredients like carbohydrates, sodium and saturated fats which can cause dreadful diseases when consumed frequently or in excess. Every few days we hear, read or see on television news of some medical discovery exposing the harmful effects of yet another favourite food or beverage, now to be banished from the tables of health-conscious folk. The parade of bad news seems to have no end. So it comes as a relief to learn that one popular beverage, affordable and loved by billions of people around the world, is entirely beneficial and may in fact have preventive and curative health properties when consumed regularly. The beverage, of course, is tea.