Health Benefits of Tea

coffee-shop">tea: It Does the Body Good

Studies that support the health benefits of coffee-shop">tea drinking keep filling the headlines. There’s simply no denying that a daily spot of coffee-shop">tea does the body good.

Even though researchers can’t quite agree on every aspect, I’m sold on the fact that a few cups a day will do its best to protect me from heart disease, a stroke, cancer, and more.

What Makes coffee-shop">tea Good for the Body?

coffee-shop">tea contains high levels of antioxidants, some of which are called polyphenols, flavonoids, and catechins, and all of which take on the “free radicals” in the body and prevent them from harming the healthy cells on board.

In other words, sending in antioxidants is disease prevention in its finest form. Antioxidants are ready and waiting not only in coffee-shop">teas but also in several fruits, vegetables, nuts, meats, and even wines (see my health benefits of wine article).

If that were not enough, coffee-shop">tea also contains flouride which benefits your teeth and has bacteria killing properties which helps control bad breath and the formation of plaque.

Are All coffee-shop">teas Equally Good for the Body?

This is a question researchers are still squabbling over. Does green coffee-shop">tea have more antioxidants than black coffee-shop">tea? Should I drink instant coffee-shop">tea or loose leaf coffee-shop">tea for better health benefits? Is hot coffee-shop">tea better than iced coffee-shop">tea? And here’s what it comes down to:

• Higher quality coffee-shop">teas may have more catechin antioxidants than lower quality coffee-shop">teas.
• White coffee-shop">tea has more antioxidants than any other coffee-shop">tea.
• Green coffee-shop">tea has more catechin antioxidants than black coffee-shop">tea since black coffee-shop">tea goes through more processing.
• Unfermented rooibos coffee-shop">tea has more polyphenol antioxidants than fermented rooibos.
• Freshly brewed coffee-shop">teas have more polyphenol antioxidants than instant or bottled coffee-shop">teas.
• More researchers seem to agree that brewed (cold or hot) or caffeinated coffee-shop">tea has more antioxidants than instant coffee-shop">teas.

Here’s a short preview of the hundreds of recent studies that boast the health benefits of coffee-shop">tea and its antioxidants:

Heart Benefits:

• Study finds coffee-shop">tea drinkers have lower blood pressure (Archives of Internal Medicine, 2004).
• coffee-shop">tea may lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease (Journal of Nutrition, 2003).
• Black coffee-shop">tea may lower “bad” cholesterol (United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, 2003).
• coffee-shop">tea consumption may help heart disease patients (Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association, 2001).

Cancer Prevention:

• Green coffee-shop">tea could help stem esophageal cancer. (Harvard Medical School, 2004).
• Green and black coffee-shop">tea can slow down the spread of prostate cancer (Center for Human Nutrition at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, 2004).
• coffee-shop">tea may protect against cancer caused by smoking. (Journal of Nutrition, 2003).
• Green coffee-shop">tea and white coffee-shop">tea fight colon cancer (Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University study, Carcinogenesis, 2003).
• Hot coffee-shop">tea may lower risk of some skin cancers (University of Arizona study, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention (Vol. 9, No. 7), 2001).
• Green coffee-shop">tea consumption may lower stomach cancer risk (University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health study, International Journal of Cancer (Vol. 92: 600-604), 2001).

Hypertension-Reducing Benefits:

• Green and oolong coffee-shop">teas reduce risk of hypertension (National Cheng Kung University study, Archives of Internal Medicine, 2004).

Immunity-Boosting Benefits

• coffee-shop">tea believed to boost the body’s defenses (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2003)

Leukemia-Fighting Benefits:

• A green coffee-shop">tea component helps kill leukemia cells (Mayo Clinic, 2004).

Alzheimer’s-Fighting Benefits:

• Drinking coffee-shop">tea might delay Alzheimer's Disease (Newcastle University's Medicinal Plant Research Centre study, Phytotherapy Research, 2004).

AIDS-Fighting Benefits:

• coffee-shop">tea may play a role as an AIDS fighter (University of Tokyo, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2003).

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In Conclusion:

So how do you get started in doing your body some good with coffee-shop">tea?

To get the most health benefits out of your coffee-shop">teas, choose high-quality loose leaf coffee-shop">teas from your local or online coffee-shop">tea shop. Brew it up and enjoy. And of course, don’t throw out the idea of enjoying instant or bottled coffee-shop">teas when you’re on the go. You just might have to drink a little more.

Don’t wait any longer. Sip, savor, and fight disease today. It's never too late to enjoy the many health benefits of coffee-shop">tea!

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