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Tea: Are Black Tea’s Anti-Oxidants As Effective As Green Tea’s?
Copyright (c) 2007 Marcus Stout
Golden Moon Tea
http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com
In recent years, scientists have been discovering the benefits of
drinking tea. Tea’s anti-oxidants have become the source of much
discussion for their ability to prevent disease and slow the
aging process. We’ve learned that tea drinking can be a simple
way to help preserve your health.
Most of the attention has been given to green tea. All types of
tea come from the camellia sinensis plant, but the finished
products we drink are different because of the way the tea leaves
are processed. Black tea is fully fermented, oolong tea is
partially fermented and green tea is left unfermented.
Because fermentation changes the properties of the tea leaves,
and thus the anti-oxidants they contain, green tea is believed to
be healthier than other forms. Green tea’s unfermented leaves
contain all the plant’s anti-oxidants in their natural state. In
black tea, the converted anti-oxidants are referred to as
theaflavins; green tea’s anti-oxidants are called catechins.
However, at least one study suggests that black tea’s
theaflavins are equally as beneficial as the catechins in green
tea. A study conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
concluded that the theaflavins in black tea are just as effective
at scavenging free radicals as the catechins in green tea.
The scavenging of free radicals is critical to maintaining our
health. These free radicals are created as a by product of
converting the food we eat to energy. If they are not kept in
check, they wreak havoc on our bodies by damaging our cells and
DNA. This leads to faster aging and a higher risk of many
diseases, including cancer, heart disease and stroke. They even
make us look older.
So, to prevent your risk of disease, doctors recommend that you
have a diet high in anti-oxidants. And, not all anti-oxidants are
created equal. It’s helpful to eat the foods that contain the
most potent anti-oxidants. This includes pomegranates, tomatoes
and blueberries. And, it also includes drinking tea each day.
The attention that green tea has received for its natural
anti-oxidants has caused a significant rise in the consumption
and availability of green tea in the Western world. While green
tea has always been the tea of choice in Asian countries, black
tea is far more popular in the west, though that is changing.
However, black tea is still the most widely consumed beverage in
the west (after water) and is expected to remain so. The news
that our favored black tea may be just as effective at preventing
disease as green tea is good news, indeed.
If you want to receive the maximum health benefits from your tea,
it’s important to make it part of your daily life. Asian
cultures, where rates of cancer and heart disease are lowest,
consume tea all day long. So, drinking a cup or two of tea a week
may not be enough to provide you the health benefits you’re
looking for.
Therefore, it’s important to find ways to make tea drinking a
regular habit. Even if you’re a morning coffee drinker, you may
find that you can substitute a cup of tea for your second cup of
coffee of the day.
And, a cup of tea can be a very relaxing way to wind down just
before bed. Because tea’s caffeine doesn’t seem to cause
jitters and increase heart rate the way coffee does, most people
have no problem drinking it before bed.
In addition, you’ll find lots of bottled teas available on the
market today. This form makes it simple to grab a bottle of tea
and take it anywhere. Some of the health benefits you may gain by
drinking tea each and every day include:
* There is clear evidence that tea reduces our risk for
cardiovascular disease. Tea helps reduce cholesterol levels and
prevents the cholesterol that’s in our bodies from turning into
artery clogging plaque.
* There have been many studies that link tea with a reduced risk
of many forms of cancer, including colo-rectal cancer, breast
cancer, uterine cancer, prostate cancer, stomach cancer and even
skin cancer.
* There have been studies that suggest that tea is healthy for
the teeth and prevents tooth decay.
* Some studies suggest that tea can positively affect mood and
cognitive performance.
* Tea may have the ability to regulate the hormone insulin,
meaning that it may offer help for those with diabetes.
* Tea may be able to prevent neurological disorders like
Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
* Tea has been shown to speed up the metabolism and help oxidize
fat, so it may help you lose weight.
As research continues, it’s likely that we’ll find even more
ways that tea can protect our health and slow down the aging
process. And, now that it seems that tea can protect us
regardless of whether we prefer green tea or black, it’s even
easier to be certain we’re getting our daily dose of tea!
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Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon
Tea Company. For more information about tea,
(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea)
green tea (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/blacktea)
and black tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com
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