All About Tea

Among the most popular beverages around the world, tea comes second after water. Black tea is the most widely consumed tea in the world (except in Asia.) Medical researchers and scientists have discovered that many health benefits can be acquired by drinking black tea regularly.

All teas come from the camellia sinensis plant, and are rich in poly-phenols, a type of antioxidant. Black tea is processed differently than green tea and white tea. When being processed, black tea is fermented, while green teas and white teas are not. During the fermentation process, some of the compounds of the black tea plant are changed; this is why some medical researchers have recently claimed that green tea is healthier than black tea, while others claim that black tea has just as many health benefits.

In today’s fast paced world, our bodies are constantly exposed to stress and free radicals. Free radicals have the ability to destroy cells and DNA in our bodies. One of the most beneficial aspects of tea in general is that it is a great source of antioxidants, which can help neutralize these harmful free radicals. Theaflavins, which are part of the black tea plant, help in hunting down the abnormal cells in our bodies and getting rid of them before they can cause our bodies any damage or harm.

In an article named “Antioxidants in Green and Black Tea” by Jeanie Lerche David for WebMD, John Weisburger, PhD., senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention in Valhalla, NY tells Web MD “the antioxidants in black and green teas are highly beneficial to our health.” His research shows that green and black tea have identical amounts of poly-phenols. Antioxidants scavenge for cell-damaging free radicals in the body and detoxify them. Weisburger, who drinks 10 cups of tea daily says, “I was the first American researcher to show that tea modifies the metabolism to detoxify harmful chemicals.” His lab found that both green and black teas block DNA damage associated with tobacco and other toxic chemicals. Weisburger recommends drinking six to 10 cups of black or green tea throughout the day. He says that decaffeinated tea is also fine because flavanoids are unchanged by the removal of caffeine.

According to studies done at Rutgers University, black tea may aid in prevention of stomach, prostate, and breast cancers. TF-2, a chemical found in black tea, causes cancer cells to die, while normal cells remain unaffected. According to Dr. Kuang Yu Chen of Rutgers University and his team, when normal cells are exposed to the TF-2 compound, nothing happens, but when cancer cells are exposed to TF-2, apoptosis (programmed cell death) occurs.

Research done at Pace Universityby Milton Schiffenbauer suggests that drinking black or green tea can help “deactivate” viruses like herpes and help prevent diarrhea, pneumonia, cystitis, and other skin infections.

Some laboratory tests show that black and green tea may slow the growth of tumors, protect bones, fight bad breath, improve skin, help boost metabolism to aid weight loss, block allergic responses, and protect against Parkinson’s disease.

Evidence suggests that benefits of black tea are decreased when milk is added to it, so try drinking your tea without any milk or sugar. As a natural alternative to sugar, we often recommend Stevia or Xylitol.

Are these enough reasons to convince you to make yourself a cup of black tea every day? Tea can go a very long way in keeping you healthy for many years to come…