Tea & health

Tea, especially Green or White Tea, is without question a healthy drink when used in moderation. In China, before tea was ever used for pleasure it was considered a medicine.

Green Tea is a fantastic part of a healthy diet. It is low in caffeine and contains vitamins and minerals. Plus, of course, it is a valuable anti-oxidant. It does not over-stimulate the nervous system, as with coffee, but gives a light refreshing lift to the drinker. White Tea offers the same benefits, but even more so.

Between 5 and 8 small cups of Green or White Tea a day will not harm you.

For most, this will be all you need to know. But if you want to dig into the details, I have prepared an overview of the basic compounds found in tea. With this background, you should be able to understand the many scientific health studies that can be found on the web.

Flavonoids

• Flavonoids is the technical term used for anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are the most important of all the natural chemicals of tea. Green Tea and White Tea offer the highest concentrations of anti-oxidants: they are also present in Black Tea and Oolong, but in smaller quantities.

• Most tea production methods damage the Flavanoids, so the highest concentrations are found in White and Green Teas, which have the gentlest processing.

• The most important Flavonoids found in tea are Flavanols called Catechins: Epicatechin, Epigallocatechin, Epicatechin Gallate and Epigallocatechin Gallate, all powerful anti-oxidants.

• Polphenol oxidase is present in all tea leaves. When it is left to interact with Catechins, as in Black Teas, these anti-oxidants transform into Theaflavins and Thearubigin. These two compounds are not present in Green or White teas but are present in Oolong teas. Basically this means the important Flavonoids of Green Tea are altered by oxidisation, the method used to produce Black Tea.

Fluoride

Green teas and White teas all contain a low quantity of natural fluoride. This is not to be confused with chemical fluoride. There is a rule for fluoride content: older tea leaves are higher in traces of fluoride than younger tea. In general the youngest varieties of tea are fresh plucked Green and White Tea. Especially the new year plucked spring teas.

Caffeine

Black Tea contains about half as much caffeine as coffee. Green and White Teas are dramatically lower in caffeine. On average Green tea contains a third of the caffeine of coffee and White Teas contain about a fifth of the caffeine of coffee.

Tannins

All plants produce Tannins, but Tannins found in tea are different from those found in other plants, with a different chemical make-up.

Vitamins

• Green and White Teas are high in soluble Vitamin C and have been shown to help with Vitamin C absorption.

• Tea also contains Thiamine B1, Riboflavin B2, Pantothenic Acid, A/B Vitamin compound and Niacin.

• Tea contains traces of Vitamin A and E

Minerals

Iron, Copper, Zinc, Manganese, Potassium and Sodium.