Did you know that most of the free-radical fighters in green tea never make it to your bloodstream? But there's a solution.

To get a better grasp on the healthy catechins in your green tea, flavor your cuppa with a squeeze of citrus juice.

Green Tea Booster
Catechins -- the antioxidants in green tea famous for lowering your risk of chronic disease -- quickly lose their power in your intestine. In fact, as much as 80 percent of the catechins in green tea are never absorbed. The solution to boosting absorption, researchers recently found, is as simple as flavoring your tea with freshly squeezed and strained lemon, orange, lime, or grapefruit juice.

Taking Tea with C
The vitamin C in citrus may help with absorption by increasing the acidity in your small intestine. Other unidentified substances in the juice probably lend a hand, too. Researchers found a 50-50 mix had the greatest catechin-preserving effect, and lemon did it best, closely followed by orange, lime, and, in last place, grapefruit. (Try this green tea smoothie with lemon for a new twist on tea.)

More Green Tea News

• It may help you lose weight. (Here's how.)
• It may help keep your knees young and strong. (Here's the reason.)
• It can help your skin look great. (Here's how to turn green tea into a skin soother.)
• It can help you stay sharp. (Here's how much you need to help your mind.)

Common tea formulations modulate in vitro digestive recovery of green tea catechins. Green, R. J., Murphy, A. S., Schulz, B., Watkins, B. A., Ferruzzi, M. G., Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 2007 Sep;51(9):1152-1162.