Tea – the hidden health benefits
After water, tea is actually the most popular drink on the planet. Tea is not really a trend, it’s a lifestyle choice.
With so many types, and having already looked into the health benefits of our drink of choice (coffee), we felt it necessary tell our tea-drinking friends what the health benefits of the leafy beverage really were.
A ‘true tea’ is made from the leaves of the Camelia sinensis plant, with differences in the flavour and colour depending heavily on how the leaves are rolled, crushed, and exposed to air before the drying process.
We haven’t included fusion teas, herbal teas or fruit teas in our list though, as the health benefits are all dependent on the specific ingredients added to create the flavour blend.
Most teas help lower the risk of heart disease, cognitive decline, stokes and even diabetes. But what does each tea actually help in terms of our health?
Tea helps with weight loss
White teas contain the most catechins, which is a type of flavonoid that are supposed to help keep blood vessels open and aid the body in breaking down fat.
Tea helps lower cholesterol
Green tea contains an abundance of the plant compound epigallocatechin gallate (EGGG), which according to studies has been found to decrease bad cholesterol (LDL).
Take a look at our fantastic range of teas and fruit tea blends which much like coffee, think should be re-labelled as a ‘superfood’ too!
Tea helps strengthen your bones
Black tea helps the mineral density within our bone structure, a study by Japanese scientists studied a group of 498 post-menopausal women and found that those who drank black tea on a regular basis had higher bone mineral density in the lumbar spine and hip.
Just skip the milk every now and again, milk proteins bind with some of the black tea compounds which prevents your body from absorbing them.
Tea helps keep your teeth healthy
Japanese researchers have found that tea can help decrease tooth loss. By changing the pH balance in your mouth, this prevents cavities from developing.
Not only that, but tea also does not actually erode teeth enamel, it does no damage whatsoever.
Tea won’t keep you up all night
Containing less caffeine than coffee, tea contains around 50% of the caffeine found in coffee.
So you can consume it without the adverse affects found in your favourite bean-based hot drink.
Tea reduces the chance of heart attacks and strokes
A huge number of studies have found that tea helps reduce the risk of heart attack and strokes, with tea providing high oxygen radical absorbance, which simply means that free radicals (which can damage DNA) are destroyed in the body by drinking the beverage.
Tea helps our body breaking down these free radicals better than our body can on it’s own.
Tea can help prevent Alzheimer’s
Polyphenols in green tea and tea help maintain certain parts of the brain that regulate our learning and memory.
Studies into the effect of the substance as a prevention treatment of neurological diseases, especially degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, are ongoing with results expected within the next few years.
Tea could protect against UV rays
It’s very important to limit exposure to ultraviolet rays, sunburn is not ideal.
Tea has been reported to act as a back-up to your regular sunscreen. We’re not 100% certain how sure it works, but a study suggests that ‘polyphenols within tea are effective chemopreventive agents for many of the adverse effects of sunlight on human health’.
That basically means they serve as natural alternatives for photoprotection.
Tea boosts athletic endurance
Scientists have found that the antioxidants catechins in green tea extract actually help increase the body’s ability to burn fat as fuel, which helps boost our muscle endurance.
Now you’ve seen the actual health benefits, why aren’t you sipping on some Earl Grey? English breakfast? We even have Green Tea just for you!