Types of Tea
The healthy types of tea come from the same plant, or tree, known as the Camellia sinensis. This one plant is where Green Tea, Black Tea, and Oolong tea comes from. And it’s also the source of a new tea that’s gaining in popularity, known as white tea.
Although all of these types of tea come from the same plant, the reason they look, smell and taste different - plus have different health benefits associated with them - is because of the way they’re processed after harvesting.
Green tea has always been the healthier of the three main types, because it is processed less after it is picked. Less processing allows more of the EGCG compound to stay in the tea instead of becoming oxidized.
Black tea however, has a much darker and more robust taste because it’s leaves go through a complex process of fermentation. This process changes the …
Tea and Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are a problem many thousands of people have every year. And they’re so painful for some people in fact, that women have publically stated they’d rather have a baby than have a kidney stone.
Now, there are several types of kidney stones, but most are caused by a build up of calcium deposits in the kidneys, bladder, or urinary tract system. These calcium deposits can be prevented from building up into stones though, by simply keeping enough fluid moving through your body throughout the day.
When you drink plenty of water each day, that water helps flush out the urinary tract system and this flush prevents the calcium deposits from being able to gather together into larger clumps and stones. This is one of the reasons people are told to drink plenty of fluids during the day, and it’s also because dehydration is one of the number …
Tea and Bone Strength
As we get older, our bones start to lose density and become more brittle. This means they can break or fracture much more easily than they did in our youth, and these fractures can cause a myriad of additional health complications the older we are.
Bone density loss is more problematic for women than men. The condition is known as osteoporosis, and it’s a major health threat for 55% of people over the age of 50 in the United States. Current estimates say that at least 10 million people are already effected by osteoporosis, and 80% of those are women. The disease doesn’t appear to be more or less prevalent in different ethnic groups, but it can actually develop at younger ages too.
Of the people who have osteoporosis, half of the women and a quarter of the men over 50 years old will have a bone fracture because …
Tea and Oral Health
The mouth is where a lot of bacteria and germs live constantly. In fact, millions of germs live there throughout the day, and sometimes we see the effects of these germs and bacteria in the form of mouth ulcers, oral thrush or yeast infections, and other oral related health problems.
Even people who seem to have healthy mouths however, still have plenty of germs and bacteria. They also have plaque of course, which comes from the foods they eat and the germs which live in the mouth. Plaque in the mouth causes tooth decay as we all know, but tea appears to actually help prevent that decay too.
In fact, not only does tea help prevent plaque from forming in the mouth, it prevents the development of cavities in the teeth and it can kill bacterial infections in the mouth too.
The flavonoids in tea actually appear to inhibit the …
Tea and Your Circulatory System/Blood Vessels
Another critical area of your body that needs health care and attention is the circulatory system and blood vessels. Major health problems have become prevalent in today’s society, with high blood pressure, blocked arteries, and poor blood flow due to blood vessels loosing their natural and healthy elasticity.
Tea is showing great promise as a solution in this area of medicine too though. Green tea particularly, because of it’s high concentration in the catechin polyphenol known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), not only helps kill cancer cells and prevent new ones from forming on healthy cells, but this powerful antioxidant is also quite effective in lowering the LDL “bad” cholesterol in the body, and it helps prevent development of abnormal blood clots too. These abnormal blood clots in the veins and arteries are the leading cause of strokes and heart attacks.
One clinical study on Black tea consumed …
