What are the health benefits of tea?

The use of tea for medicinal purposes can be traced back more than a thousand years. We still drink tea for its health benefits and science increasingly is supporting tea's medicinal claims.

Tea contains antioxidants known as catechins and flavonoids, which help fight a number of diseases such as certain types of cancer and heart disease. While research is still preliminary, studies show some benefit from consuming tea, both green and black, in the prevention of cancer and heart disease.

Remember, tea is a source of caffeine. If that's a concern, drink decaffeinated tea or be moderate in your consumption of regular tea.

All of the varieties of tea have different health benefits. Experts believe that flavonoids are the key health-promoting ingredient in tea. These polyphenol antioxidants are present in many foods and plants, including tea leaves, and have been found to help prevent cell damage. Research suggests that tea may also protect against heart disease and many types of cancer.

What about herbal tea? Herbal tea is not really tea at all, but actually an infusion made from various leaves, flowers, fruits and herbs. Herbal tea can also boast many medicinal properties -- and it's caffeine-free. Tailor your tea for your needs by selecting herbs and plants that address your specific health issue.

The British have the right idea when they brew a pot of tea in stressful times. Turns out, black tea is rich in stress-busting antioxidants, including polyphenols, flavonoids, and amino acids. There's also some evidence that green tea can help lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

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Green tea provides significantly more health benefits than black tea due to its higher content of free polyphenols. The major polyphenols in green tea are flavonoids, the most active of which is epigallocatechin gallate. In addition to serving as antioxidants, green tea polyphenols may increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the small intestine, liver, and lungs. A number of experiments conducted in test-tube and animal cancer models have shown that green tea polyphenols inhibit cancer by blocking the formation of cancer-causing compounds, such as nitrosamines, suppressing the activation of carcinogens, and detoxifying or trapping cancer-causing agents. The forms of cancer that appear to be best prevented by green tea are cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, including cancers of the stomach, small intestine, pancreas, and colon; lung cancer; estrogen-related cancers, including most breast cancers; and prostate cancer. Although important in fighting all of these cancers, green tea is especially important in preventing breast and prostate cancers.

In contrast to green tea's protective effects, population studies seem to indicate that black tea consumption may increase the risk of certain cancers, including cancer of the rectum, gallbladder, and endometrium.

You may not think of it this way, but tea is among the world’s most popular herbs. It may also be one of the best ways to prevent a number of degenerative diseases.

Tea, the most frequently consumed beverage in the world, has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other diseases. It was originally thought that green tea had more antioxidants than black tea, but recent studies suggest that they’re equally beneficial.

Squeeze half a lemon into your green tea (cold or hot) to increase and preserve the antioxidant effects of the tea’s catechins (the antioxidant ingredient) and make them more easily absorbed by the body.