This is silly, many societies drink tons of strong black tea without polluting it with milk or sugar, and do just fine. (I come from one, and have never had any problems with my esophagus — maybe it has already turned into leather without me noticing?) It does often cause nausea on an empty stomach, though, so filling it with something first might actually be useful.

Try a search on "milk neutralizes beneficial compounds in tea"

One result: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/the-benefits-of-tea-wit...