Coffee 2 Tea

Too Your Health

Well its not exactly an easy question to answer due to the huge variety of teas out there and how exactly you want to measure health benefits.

If we say the health score of a tea is based on its levels of antioxidants (flavinoids, catechins) then we could draw up the following table…

[1] Jasmine tea’s base is green tea and its total antioxidant content is boosted by the presence of jasmine.

[2] Although Rooibos isn’t of the same species and not strictly a tea it is commonly referred to as a tea. Now although many have claimed it has a higher antioxidant content than tea this isn’t true although it does contain a variety of unique antioxidants.

[3] The general consensus is that iced tea is the most heavily processed and thus least antioxidant rich of the teas. However, Lipton do claim that their tea with lemon contains an unusually high amount of flavinoids. How much we believe this is up to you.

(Hakim IA, Hartz V, Harris RB, Balentine D, Weisgerber UM, Graver E, Whitacre R, Alberts D. Reproducibility and relative validity of a questionnaire to assess intake of black tea polyphenols in epidemiological studies. Cancer Epidem Bio & Prev 2001; 10:667-78).

Antioxidant Activity of Black Tea vs. Green Tea (Ki Won Lee and Hyong Joo Lee) Department of Food Science and Technology School of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University Suwon 441–744, Korea

There are four key types of this beverage which are white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. One study out of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that drinking green tea can help abate esophageal cancer, while another from Pace University reveal that drinking black tea can help destroy oral viruses such as herpes, as well as prevent diarrhea, pneumonia, cystitis, and skin infections.

Many folks drink tea simply because it taste great, and not just for benefits. There are two main methods of brewing tea, loose leaf style, and by tea bag. But only one method will give you the ultimate tea flavor and benefits!

Most people brew their tea form a tea bag and remain unaware of the true way tea is meant to be enjoyed. Even drinking white and green teas that are in iced tea form in bottles sold in stores does not provide the same taste and benefits. The reason is because tea bags consist of fanning (or tea dust) which happens to be the lowest grading of tea. Loose leaf tea is the way to go; it offers more varieties and drinking pleasure over any tea bag! So brew it, sip it and enjoy it!