Tea healthier than water?

So asking the replicator for “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot” does a body better than “Water, Bottled, Cold”? This according to a story on the BBC News website: “Tea ‘healthier’ drink than water”:

Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits, say researchers.

The work in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition dispels the common belief that tea dehydrates.

Tea not only rehydrates as well as water does, but it can also protect against heart disease and some cancers, UK nutritionists found.

Experts believe flavonoids are the key ingredient in tea that promote health.

Some very interesting tidbits in there, though the fact that the research was funded by the Tea Council casts a bit of doubt on the whole thing. Still, better than a six pack of soda every day.