Tea Beneficial or Detrimental to Your Health?

by Mark McGimpsey

Believe it or not tea is actually the world’s most popular non alcoholic drink. It is
grown at higher altitudes and only the best leaves are plucked from the younger
shoots, which mean that tea contains high levels of enzymes, phenols,
flavoinoids, and caffeine.

So at there any benefits to drinking tea?

Tea contains flavoinoids which are chemicals with antioxidant properties. Among
the flavoinoids group are catechins which are also antioxidants, and which gives
tea its flavour. So tea is first of all and antioxidant brew and if you know anything
about antioxidants you will know that researchers place high regard in the
properties of antioxidants.

Black tea is fermented at manufacture, a process in which dried leaves are

crushed to release enzymes and which results in changes in colour and flavour
to the finished product. Green tea is not a fermented, and is made by steaming
the leaves to stop enzyme activity during manufacture. Both types have tea have
their own unique benefits.

The benefits.

Tea hydrates almost as well as water, and is actually healthier to drink because
of the various compounds in tea. People who drink tea are less likely to suffer
from heart disease, mainly due to be antioxidants preventing the oxidation of
cholesterol which means the cholesterol is less like to stick to arterial walls.

Another study has shown that 70% of men who drink 5 cups of tea a day have a
reduced risk of stroke as flavoinoids in tea reduce clotting, and combined with the
effect of reducing cholesterol, significantly lessens the chance of blockages and
the formation of a clot. This also reduces the chances of a heart attack.

Tea has also been found to help some people with asthma, as flavoinoids called
Theophyllines which occur in tea dilate the airways in the lungs. Theophyllines
have also been developed as drugs to aid in the treatment of asthma and other
constructive disorders of the lung.

Green tea incidentally does not contain caffeine because of the difference in the
manufacturing process. Herbal teas also do not contain caffeine, however some
herbal teas contain other substances which can have a detrimental effect on
health, which if brewed into a strong tea than induce hallucinations,
and other undesirable side-effects. So choose herbal teas carefully.

Tea also helps prevent cancer. There is a type of catechin in tea called
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which helps protect cancer causing changes in
DNA cells, and is also believed to inhibit an enzyme that cancer cells need to
reproduce.

Disadvantages.

* The tannins in strong tea can cut iron absorption, so vegetarians who drink
strong tea can be disadvantaged by this as it cuts back the absorption of the
lower iron levels found in a vegetarian diet.
* Tea has a similar diuretic effect to coffee.
* Strong tea can cause insomnia.
* Herbal teas can be an unsafe alternative for some people.

Mark McGimpsey is a published author and owner of web sites that provide
information on Health and Wellness and on Healthy Eating.

Discover more useful information on Health and Wellness, and on Eating Healthy
at Ultimate Health And Fitness and at Healthy Foods And Eating Healthy blogs.