I am so thrilled to be able to substantiate my lifelong “tea granny” status. The statistics are in, and tea comes out on top. People in the U.S. drink less than one-fifth the amount of tea as people in Great
I am so thrilled to be able to substantiate my lifelong “tea granny” status. The statistics are in, and tea comes out on top. People in the U.S. drink less than one-fifth the amount of tea as people in Great Britain.
According to researchers at Tufts University, tea drinking is associated with lowering the risk of heart disease, lowering high blood pressure, reducing cancer risks and bone losses, as well as helping your brain retain memory.
Green tea also helps increase fat loss, reduces stress and encourages healthy intestinal bacteria. Countries where black tea is most consumed have lower rates of Type 2 diabetes.
So how much and what types of teas are the most beneficial?
Many of the benefits of tea can be traced to its high levels of antioxidants called flavonoids. About one-third of the weight of tea is flavonoids. Nutritionally, drinking a cup of tea is like eating a serving of fruit in terms of flavonoids, except there are no calories and no sugar.
A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology noted that drinking three cups of black tea daily was associated with an 11 percent drop in the rate of heart attacks.
Green tea helps improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Four to six cups daily of green tea has been shown to help bone formation and muscle strength in post-menopausal women. This has huge implication in the prevention of falls.
A Japanese study indicated that seniors who drank five or more cups of green tea daily were more than half as likely to suffer functional disability as those who did not consume tea.
Tea increases brain circulation and neural plasticity, especially in the hippocampus — the area associated with memory. Researchers have also shown that tea compounds bind to the beta–amyloid proteins that cause Alzheimer’s disease.
Perhaps tea drinking can be part of a treatment or prevention strategy.
Regular tea drinking is associated with lower levels of colorectal, stomach and esophageal cancers. A long-term Chinese study found that the rate of cancer was reduced by 21 percent for those who drank at least two or three cups of green tea per day and the reduction in risk was higher in those who drank more tea over a longer period of time.
Other research shows that the combination of green tea flavonoids and caffeine helps aid in fat burning.
The amino acid L-Theanine plus caffeine helps reduce the level of the stress hormone cortisol and helps mental alertness.
Tea flavonoids can encourage healthy intestinal bacteria as much as probiotics do. Black tea has about half the amount of caffeine as coffee, and most of the benefits of tea can be derived from decaffeinated tea, although some of the flavonoids content is lost.
Green tea has less caffeine than black tea. Black tea and green tea are from the same plant. Black tea is just dried, fermented and fully oxidized, whereas green tea is unfermented and minimally processed.
Green tea should be steeped in water that is about 175 degrees, while black tea should be steeped in boiling water.
A little lemon enhances the flavor and the flavonoids.
Drink up to your health!
• Jane Riley, M.S., B.A., C.P.T., certified nutritional adviser, can be reached at janerileyfitness@gmail.com, 212-1451 or www.janerileyfitness.com.
