Health Benefits of Tea

A Short History of Tea

Throughout history, and within the cultures of the world’s most ancient civilizations, tea has enjoyed tremendous popularity due to its simplicity, variety, and flavor. The slightly bitter, light, and aromatic characteristics of tea leaves have helped make tea one of the most beloved beverages in the world. In fact, historians have found ancient Chinese dictionaries that cite tea, and include detailed accounts of tea-brewing-methods, as early as 350 A.D. Furthermore, tea historians claim that between the years 1101-1125 the Chinese Emperor Hui Tsung become so obsessed with tea that he did nothing but write about the best tea-whisking methods and hold tea-tasting tournaments in his court. He become so obsessed with tea that he did not notice the Mongol take over of his empire.

In 1589 Europeans learn about tea when a Venetian author credited the lengthy lives of Asians to their tea drinking. In Europe, this sparked a great deal of interest in tea. In fact between the years 1650-1700 tea parties become so popular among women of all social classes that husbands began to cry family ruin, and religious reformers began to call for a ban. It was right around this time, in 1657, that tea was sold as a health beverage in London, England at Garway’s Coffee House.

Despite this, tea failed to gain popularity in the west. So, even though ancient civilizations valued tea both as a beverage, and as an important component of their medicinal practices, it is only recently that modern science’s understanding of tea has grown to include its ability to promote health and help prevent a number of diseases.

Several recent scientific studies have concluded that the potential health benefits of regular tea consumption are numerous. These health benefits range anywhere from helping people control their diabetes, to helping reduce LDL cholesterol, helping prevent certain types of Cancer, and helping ease the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. In fact, scientists today esteem tea, and its antioxidant properties, so much that they have dubbed it a “super food”.

Antioxidants In Tea

Tea is made up of a variety of different compounds. Of these components, Flavonoids, which are a form of antioxidant, are the most important, and actively researched, because they have  potentially beneficial health effects for humans. Flavonoids have been reported to have antiviral, anti-allergic, anti-platelet, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antioxidant activities.

Antioxidants are important to our health because these compounds  protect our cells against the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species. Often, there is an imbalance between these antioxidants and reactive oxygen species in our bodies which results in damage on the cellular level. This type of damage has been linked to the development of many diseases and illnesses.

Flavonoids are believed to help provide protection against  disease by contributing, along with antioxidant vitamins and enzymes, to the total antioxidant defense system of the human body. Some studies’ findings have even gone one step further and suggested that increasing your intake of Flavonoids decreases your risk of death from Coronary Heart Disease.

Health Benefits of Tea

The following is a short list of those health benefits of tea that have been substantiated through recent scientific studies.

• Boost The Metabolism
  A University of Birmingham study concluded that regular ingestion of green tea increases fat oxidation during moderate to intense exercise and improves the body’s insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in healthy adults. Another study, conducted at the University of Geneva concluded that green tea has thermogenic properties (production of heat by the body) and promotes fat oxidation beyond the rate that can be explained away by its caffeine content. Research such as this has led scientists to conclude that regular green tea consumption may play a role in the control of body composition via Thermogenesis, fat oxidation, or both.

• Anti-Diabetes
  The number of people with type 2 diabetes is expected to rise by 65% from now till 2025. This means that by the year 2025 an estimated 380 million people worldwide will be suffering from type 2 diabetes. The good news, though, is that a new review of research suggests that lifestyle changes, including the consumption of regular or decaffeinated tea, can help lower the risk of diabetes by 7% .

• Protect the Heart
  Research conducted at the University of L’Aquila in Italy, and supported by the Lipton Institute of Tea, has proven that regular  black tea consumption, by both men and women, improves blood vessel reactivity, and helps reduce blood pressure and arterial stiffness, all of which is indicative of a notably better cardiovascular health profile. Other tea consumption studies have created a positive link between reduced severity of Coronary Heart Disease in men, and reduced clogging of heart vessels in women, who consume tea on a regular basis.

• Fight Obesity and Increase Weight Loss
  A limited study in Japan and The Netherlands showed that green tea extract can help both men and women lose weight. The participants who incorporated regular green tea consumption into their weight loss routines were able to shrink their waists, and improve their LDL cholesterol or “bad cholesterol” levels far more significantly than their peers who did not consume any tea during the course of their diets.

• Protect the Skin
  A 2001 study used extracts of topical green tea to show that tea leaves can help  provide protection against ultraviolet damage. Another study, done using mice, indicated preventative activity against skin tumors in those mice who were given caffeinated black or green tea to consume.

The Different Types of Tea

The processing and curing techniques employed on the leaves and buds of the Camellia Sinensis plant give us the different varieties of tea we enjoy today:

• White Tea: Is unfermented tea made from very young tea leaves, or buds, that are steamed immediately after harvest and then dried. Consequently, white tea contains the highest concentrations of Flavonoid antioxidants than any other type of tea.

• Green Tea: Is tea that has been withered by air drying prior to heating. Although still rich in Flavonoids, green tea may have slightly lower Flavonoid concentrations than white tea. Unique to green tea is a type of Flavonoid called EGCG. This antioxidant has been shown to be 100 times more effective in neutralizing reactive oxygen species than vitamin C, and 25 times more powerful than vitamin E.

• Black Tea: Is tea that has been rolled and allowed to ferment fully, resulting in relatively low Flavonoid concentrations.

• Oolong Tea: Is only partially fermented tea. Oolong tea is allowed to ferment for a shorter period of time than black tea. Consequently, Oolong tea’s level of antioxidants falls somewhere between that of green tea and black tea.

Taste the Difference

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