Just The Tea FAQs: Health Benefits (Part II)


A hot cup of tea might be just the thing to soothe a sore throat, warm the body, or relax with after a stress-filled day. But tea is more than just a comfort drink. Its healthful properties make it a smart choice for just about everyone. Tea has been used as a medicine in other cultures for many years, but it has only recently gained a great deal of media attention for the many nutritional benefits it offers.

Tea's Medicinal Past

While most Westerners drink tea for pleasure and refreshment, people in the East, particularly Japan and China have drunk tea for medicinal reasons for centuries. For over 5,000 years, the Chinese have been serving up tea as both a refreshing beverage and a drink that touts many healthful qualities. Tea, according to the Japanese and Chinese cultures, offers a variety of healing properties for the body. Now, as more studies are conducted at major medical institutions, doctors are realizing that tea is something more than just a hot beverage served with lemon and sugar.

There are various types of tea from green to black to oolong to white. These different teas all come from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. The different colors, in terms of black, green and white, refer to the various preparation methods for tea. Black tea is fermented so that it completely oxidizes. Oolong is oxidized for a brief period of time. Green tea is not fermented, but instead steamed. White tea is the least processed of any tea product. It results from dried leaves of the tea plant that have been shielded from the sun to prevent chlorophyll from forming.

One can determine how processed a tea is by its color. Darker teas have undergone greater processing, which causes the teas to lose some of their natural nutritional benefits.

The Benefits of Tea Drinking

Tea contains a polyphenol compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is known to be an antioxidant, or cancer-fighting substance. Black tea offers only miniscule amounts of antioxidants resulting from its intense fermentation. Green tea provides higher amounts of EGCG due to its unfermented state. The greatest level of EGCG is found in white tea because it is the least processed tea.

In addition to helping protect against cancer, the polyphenols in green tea and white tea work as an antiseptic against infections and tooth decay, reduce strokes, prevent food poisoning, lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reduce heart disease, prevent the development of kidney stones, lower the chance of osteoporosis, and alleviate the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. These polyphenols found in tea are considered to be more beneficial than some vitamins.

The antioxidants in tea prevent free radicals, which can cause cell damage and abnormal cells to develop within the body. These abnormalities and damages to cells can lead to cancer. When tea is consumed over time, its antioxidant properties have been linked to reduced risks in developing cancers that target the stomach, breast, lung, and skin.

Tea offers antibacterial and antiviral properties that can enhance products currently on the market. White tea extract has been added to some of the top toothpaste brands to make them more effective at fighting cavities. Tea also contains fluoride so it has its own natural cavity prevention built right in.

In addition to the benefits of fighting cancer and heart disease, the strong antibacterial properties in tea help alleviate food poisoning. Sipping strong tea can end bouts of diarrhea brought on by food poisoning and kill off the bacteria that causes sickness and weakness.

Herbal Teas: Other Benefits

Besides the traditional black, green, oolong, and white teas, supermarkets and health food stores tout a number of herbal teas to suit any palate and treat a number of different illnesses from indigestion to premenstrual syndrome to migraines. Most tea aficionados will not call these herbal beverages "teas" because they are not made with camellia sinensis leaves but rather from other plants, herbs, and roots. While these herbal teas will not offer antioxidant power, many of them have been used for centuries for the healing effects that they have on different bodily ailments.

Peppermint tea and ginger tea are widely used for problems related to the stomach. Ginger tea has been utilized for centuries as an aid for digestion, nausea, morning sickness, and for motion sickness. Peppermint tea relieves indigestion, cramping, bloating, gas, constipation, and diarrhea. Lemongrass tea is drunk to fight off flu symptoms and ease nasal congestion. Horehound tea suppresses coughs, and in large doses, acts as a laxative.

Chamomile tea, a popular herbal beverage, alleviates insomnia, calms nerves, soothes colds, menstrual cramps, stress and even aids the stomach. Doctors have been known to recommend cool chamomile tea to calm babies with gas or colic. A recent study reports that the benefits of drinking chamomile tea can last days after the person has drunk a cup. Chamomile's properties stay in the body for up to two weeks.

Drink Up the Benefits

To receive the maximum benefits that tea can provide, one should drink at least two to three cups daily. Always opt for freshly brewed, high quality tea as opposed to prepared beverages in bottles. The best way to purchase quality tea is from an importer who restocks his or her supply often.

When preparing the tea, allow it to steep for approximately four minutes. The tea can be drunk hot or cold once brewed.


More Resources

Treat Osteoporosis Naturally
Osteoporosis is a condition that faces every baby boomer; man or woman. Women are more prone to getting this after menopause, but men can also have "porous bones.
Using Pain To Institute Change In Your Life!
Why do you do something that harms you? Why do you do something that has an overall negative effect in your life? Why do you do something that will make you unhappy later?The answers to those questions are not easy. When you are overeating, or eating unhealthy foods you are happy and content during the time that you are eating them.
Breathing and Mental Concentration
In spirituality, there are number of exercises available that help enhance the mental concentration. These exercises help reduce the flow of negative thoughts, which in turn lessens the mental confusion.
Is Alternative Medicine Proven to Work?
The most common objection to alternative medicine from conventional physicians is that it is "not proven."What doctors mean by this is that alternative medicine has not been rigorously tested the way pharmaceutical drugs have been.
Pediatric CI Therapy - An Interview with Dr. Stephanie C. DeLuca
As each day passes, medical research communities strive to find alternative means of evaluating and treating specific conditions. One of those communities is comprised of a professional and highly educated team of PhDs at Alabama University at Birmingham, located in Birmingham, AL.
How To Lower Cholesterol Without Prescription Drugs
Don't accept that prescription just yet. In most cases it's possible to take control of your cholesterol naturally, without the use of prescription drugs.
Amazing Artemesias
Artemis - Goddess of the herbalist - gives her name to a genus of marvelously aromatic, safely psychedelic, highly medicinal, dazzlingly decorative, and more-or-less edible plants in the Asteraceae family. I love Artemis, and I love her plants.
Constipation: the Fast, Easy Answer to Something No One Talks About
Everyone jokes about constipation, but it's no joke if you're the one suffering from it. And "suffering" is the right word for it! It's a miserable feeling.
Alternative Herbal Cures for Ailments
With the increased usage of herbs for treatment of ailments from Common cold to Cancer, there is an increasing need for authentic and unbiased information on various cures using herbs.Who is better qualified than the knowledge givers about herbs to give this Information to the whole world.
Too Clean-A Critical Look At The Alleged Link Between Asthma and Cleanliness
Americans are ridiculed around the world for our attention to cleanliness. Recently some natural health experts have suggested that the growing problem of childhood asthma is directly related to our obsession with clean homes and a handful of studies seem to confirm their suspicions.
Healing the Elements
The Nature Elementals, most commonly known as Faeries, are the unseen guardians of the planet. As much as we would like to believe that their survival depends on our beliefs and ability to clap loud enough so as to restart their dying hearts, these energy beings have very little need for us.
Body Mass Index Is Not The Only Focus of Your Weight Loss Plan. Think About The Stress in Your Mind
The first of January will bring a new group of folks out to the local gym and the fitness equipment store. Many of us have been a part of this crowd once or twice in our lifetimes.
Is Green Tea Good for Me?
Scientific studies continue to show that green tea is good for you.Tea began its illustrious history as a Chinese medicinal drink, and only gradually did it become the popular beverage that it is today.
Pain Relief: Is There an Alternative?
Do you rely on Vioxx, Celebrex or Aleve (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs) to ease pain? If you suffer from inflammatory arthritis or pain due to injuries, you probably are familiar with one of these drugs. No doubt you have also heard recent reports linking some NSAIDs with an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
Sick Building Syndrome and Indoor Climate Control
The problem of high levels of CO2 in ambient air appears to be a modern one. Yet, this is not one of the new fads that crop up from time to time and then disappear again, never to be mentioned again.
ADHD The Easier Solution
ADHD is a very rapidly growing part of the health care industry. The symptoms are varied, including: irritability, hyperactivity and behavioral problems.
Your Body is a Map of Your Consciousness
Everything begins with your consciousness. Everything that happens in your life, and everything that happens in your body, begins with something happening in your consciousness.
Headache, Hypnosis, And Stress, A Case History
Now, more that ever, concerned physicians are beginning to ask about and understand the role of non-drug therapies to assist patients with headache. These therapies, alone or in combination with medications can significantly impact on headache treatment.
Alternative Medicine vs Conventional Medicine - Pt 2
In Part 1 we discussed the fact that alternative medicine (so called) was being used in ancient times long before conventional medicine came on the scene. It is interesting to note that there were not so many diseases plaguing mortals in those days.
Frankincense in Aromatherapy - Trees, Pearls, and Essential Oil
The Mysterious FrankincenseUsed for many thousands of years, the Frankincense tree has perhaps the greatest association with spiritualpractice of any plant on earth. In most of the great ancient cultures,including the Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Hebrew, Greek and Roman civilizations, it has played a role inreligious and domestic life.

More Alternative Information:

Related Articles

How to Use the Subconscious to Cope with Lifestyle Triggers of Your Pain
Emotions, food and lack of sleep can all be potent triggers of pain signals in your body. Here's a way to use your subconscious mind to try to lessen the impact of those triggers.
Endorphins - Strong Painkillers Your Subconscious May Be Able to Provide
The sources of the original "natural high," endorphins and ekephalins can nonetheless lose their ability to kill pain if the situation becomes chronic. Visualizations may be able to help your subconscious to send in reinforcements.
Use Essential Oils and Herbs in a Sitz Bath for Hemorrhoid Relief
Sitz bath using juniper and lavender oilsIf you have swollen hemorrhoids, a sitz bath can help youreduce them and speed your recover. Fill a tub with warmor hot water.
You Don't Have to Live With Stiff Neck Pain
Getting quality sleep has, for many, become an elusive goal in the modern day. We work longer hours, take less time off, and try to overcompensate by micromanaging what little free time is available to in order to enjoy all facets of our lives.
Kokoro no Kaze: Does Your Soul Have a Cold?
Feeling sad? Have you lost interest in things you used to enjoy? Perhaps you're suffering from a cold of the soul.That's the concept that has taken Japan by storm in the last five years, thanks to a culturally savvy marketing campaign launched by pharmaceutical companies to turn mild depression into an acceptable malady that a simple prescription can cure.
Serotonin Kills Pain - And May Be Available From Your Subconscious
Serotonin is not just for depression--it's potent for pain relief as well. Here's a drug-free way you may be able to increase your supply of this natural painkiller.
Acid Reflux and Heartburn Natural Remedies Part II
If you have acid reflux or heartburn, using natural remedies to rebalance your stomach is what nature intended. Listed are four natural remedies that you can use to rebalance the acid in your stomachCinnamonCinnamon has many medicinal uses aside from being great for various pastries.
Stopping Colds in Their Tracks
We all know the nasty sensation of coming down with a cold: when you feel like your head is stopped up, when your nose is constantly running, and when nothing tastes right.Most of what we call colds are technically known rhinitis, and are caused by various micro-organisms settling on nasal or throat surfaces, and the body's reacting to them.
How I Was Overtaken By Evil Eye Envy!
You are about to embark on a journey that only a percentage of the world's population has made. Throughout the journey, you will gain insight that will expand your horizons in the evil eye phenomenon.
Herbal Medicine
Herbal Medicine is the oldest form of health care known to mankind. Herbs have been used in all cultures and form an integral part of modern civilisation.
Healing the Body & Mind - The Karma of Health
Within each one of us resides the divine healer. All healings come from within and not outside.
Flax Seeds, Seeds, and Nuts For Constipation Relief
Here are a variety of home remedies for constipation using flax seeds with other seeds and nuts. They provide the fiber and oils that you need to relieve constipation.
The Effects of Diet on Infertiltiy
Overwhelmed by studies, research and the constantly changing diet, nutrition and food recommendations? With so many conflicting opinions and studies it's a full time job trying to keep up with the do's and don'ts.Here are? not just five, but six.
Snoring: A Common Sleep Disorder
Sleep consumes as much as one-third or more of the average human's life. Even if people hope for restful sleep, many types of sleep disorder reduce the quality and quantity of sleep.
What Causes Osteoporosis and Ten Changes You Can Make to Reduce Your Risk of Osteoporosis
Ten Simple Lifestyle Changes You Can Make to ReduceYour Risk for Osteoporosis Stop or decrease your meat intake.Stop or decrease your dairy intake.
Fibromyalgia Pain: How Using Visualizations May Bring You Relief
There are many theories about what causes fibromyalgia. One is that it's due to an overly stimulated sympathetic nervous system.
Benefits of Human Growth Hormone - HGH Enhancing Products
Human Growth Hormone has often been referred to as the "fountain of youth hormone". So, have we stumbled upon the proverbial "fountain of youth" with these new HGH enhancement supplements that claim to reduce fat, relieve "aging symptoms" such as wrinkles, increase energy and sex drive, promote sounder and deeper sleep cycles, and rejuvenate the body? Well, there are several faithful users of products in this arena (and I'm one of them) that will swear that since they have started taking HGH enhancing products, they've experienced a wide range of pleasing and desirable benefits, and it's not placebo.
Parasites: The Missing Diagnosis?
Parasites, commonly thought of as only affecting those in developing countries, actually affect 1 in 6 people in North America and are the most common disease condition in the world. For many chronic conditions this can be the missing diagnosis.
Lumie Dawn Simulation Wake Up Clocks - The perfect Start To Your Day!
Light plays a crucial role in the synchronisation of your circadian rhythm - (sleep/wake patterns). The suns daily cycle of light and dark regulates many of the bodys important hormonal and biochemical processes.
Herbs Can Heal You or Save Your Life
A historyHerbs have been used for hundreds of years before Christ. Perhaps since the time humans first began to roam the earth.