It’s time to know the real health benefits of tea drinking habit!
From cold winters to sensational summers, we enjoy different versions of tea, and we sip it from morning to noon. Regardless of the time or venue, a cup of tea can always soothe our minds while leaving us in a refreshed shape. What magic does it have to give us this unique effect? On the other hand, the term tea often deals with health & wellness topics, and we thought it's high time to explore more in this area.
Throughout this article, we will focus on true teas or the teas that are produced from the Camellia sinensis plant. Other than tea, even the herbal teas and tisanes also carry loads of health benefits & we will discuss those separately.
So, What makes tea a super healthy brew?
Mainly the credit behind so-called tea benefits goes to the unique chemical composition of the tea leaf. Despite its type as Green, Black, Oolong, or White, every tea contains some common constituents, while the concentration of a few ingredients varies with the tea type or processing style.
In a given cup of tea, the major water-soluble compound is called “Polyphenols”. This compound is mainly responsible for the flavor development of tea while processing and many health benefits. The term “Polyphenols” is merely a generic term, and the “Polyphenols” we find in tea are named “Flavanols” or “Catechins”. These specific terms are just for additional knowledge, and you could always stick with the more familiar term “Polyphenols”.
During the processing phase of dark teas like Black tea, Oolong, or Puerh tea, these flavonoids get converted to other compounds that are resulting in the flavor and color of the tea. However, still, you could group all these compounds under “Polyphenols” and their properties remain more or less similar to each other. Don’t stress much over these technical explanations & we just wanted to conclude one fact. The core health benefits of different tea types are almost similar, so you don't need to worry too much about the type of your daily cuppa.
Apart from “Polyphenols”, a cup of tea contains many other beneficial compounds such as Caffeine, Minerals, Fluoride, and Amino acids. The Amino Acid called L-theanine is a special kind & found only in tea. Altogether, these compounds contribute to making our beloved cup of tea a healthier brew, and now it is time to look at the benefits of tea & tea-drinking habit. In the meantime, it is vital to understand that you should not use this information as medical recommendations, and tea as a beverage could not replace your routine medicines.
Ten most popular benefits of the tea-drinking habit
- Tea could hydrate our body
Well, this fact always goes unnoticed when we discuss the benefits of tea-drinking habit. Any given cup of tea contains a large percentage of water & water helps almost every activity of your body, including heat regulation & lubrication.
- Tea is a rich Antioxidant
We’ve discussed “Polyphenols” in detail earlier in this article & this is where it comes to play the most. “Polyphenols” are considered as an excellent antioxidant group, and in general, antioxidants can prevent the activity of harmful free radicals within our body. This property helps us in many ways, like minimizing cancer risk and preventing cell aging within the body.
- Tea can promote our heart health
Earlier in this article, we came across the term Flavanols. Some studies have revealed that these compounds can play a protective role against certain types of heart diseases, such as coronary heart disease.
- Tea can improve our Alertness
Tea contains caffeine & we all know what caffeine is capable of. However, compared to a cup of coffee tea contains a lesser amount of caffeine, and this mild caffeine content helps with better focus. Apart from caffeine, the unique amino acid L-theanine also plays a role in resulting in focus and calming effects.
- Tea can help with Skin health & Aging
We’ve disused the antioxidant activity of tea earlier in this article. The natural antioxidants that we find in tea can slow down the cell decaying process caused by harmful free radicals. This activity slows down the overall aging process, and it helps to maintain better skin health as well.
- Helps with reducing Diabetes risk
According to scientific findings, compounds like Catechins and Myricetin that we find in tea, (especially in green tea types) are capable of improving our insulin sensitivity within us. Therefore, scientists relate this attribute with the reduced risk of Type-2 diabetes within our bodies.
- Tea can Improve our Oral Health
As we are aware now, tea is a source of fluoride, and we know how valuable fluoride is to our oral health. So it is interesting to know that our beloved cup of tea can protect our teeth & overall oral health with each sip.
- Tea can boost our energy
When you think of energy, you could think of tea hereafter, as the caffeine in tea can contribute to boosting your energy. Generally, black tea contains relatively high caffeine content & therefore becomes a popular ingredient among energy-boosting tea blends.
- Tea can help relieve stress
The popular tea amino acid L-theanine that we discussed before is known to have calming & anti-anxiety properties. Owing to this property, a cup of tea can always calm you down while relieving your stress levels.
- Tea can boost your immunity
Many years ago, when tea was invented, people believed that tea is a type of medicine and it could protect you from many diseases. Years later, it has been revealed that Catechins in tea have anti-viral and anti-microbial effects so that it could boost our overall immunity.
Pick Asami..
Well, that concludes our article on the benefits of tea drinking habit, and as a tea lover, it is worth you know these points for your knowledge. At Asami, we’ve taken every step to preserve this natural goodness within our tea leaves, and more importantly, it comes fresh from small yet productive farmlands. Join the Asami family today and explore these sensational flavors & natural goodness. Try now!