It’s tea time

In 2008, on the way to the Pro-Am at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Classic in Orlando, Florida, golfer John Daly was informed by the news media that he’d been fired by his swing coach, Butch Harmon. Rough news. But he always liked the pro-am round with local business folks, and he was set for a 9:47 tee time. Upon signing in, he found that the tournament office had given him his official tournament starting time, not the one for the pro-am! He missed his pro-am tee time and was therefore disqualified from the entire tournament.

Missing a tee time in golf is pretty serious business, and it turns out so is missing your daily tea time. Researchers from the University of California have discovered that drinking black, caffeinated tea can substantially lower your risk of developing glaucoma, a disease in which fluid in the eye builds up and damages the optic nerve.

In a study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, they report that after analyzing data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, they found that “participants who consumed at least one cup of hot tea daily had a 74 per cent decreased odds of having glaucoma compared with those who did not consume hot tea.” And even though this was an observational study, the researchers point out that tea contains anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and flavonoids that may protect the optic nerve. So, don’t miss your tea time. Senior golfer Gary Player, who at 82 still wins tourneys, never would.