Health Benefits of Tea

Tea has been shown to provide great health benefits and may help prevent cancer, high cholesterol and osteoporosis. What gives tea its healthy properties? Tea contains polyphenols, also called antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals that are byproducts of the body's chemical processes. According to tea researcher John Weisburger, PhD, tea antioxidants may be a hundred times more effective that Vitamin C and twenty five times more effective than Vitamin E -- two other common antioxidants.

Other antioxidants are known to help prevent cancer and heart disease, and tea antioxidants are proving themselves as well. Studies of tea drinkers have shown lower incidence of esophagus, stomach, urinary tract, bladder and prostate cancers. Similarly, cardiovascular studies have shown that tea helps prevent atherosclerosis --- or plaque buildup -- in arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. In all the studies, just a cup or two of tea daily had a positive effect.

While researchers understand less about tea's role in preventing osteoporosis, researchers suspect tea antioxidants to again be at work. A British study showed that women who drank at least one cup of tea or more daily were less likely to develop osteoporosis after menopause due to higher bone density in the spine and thighs.

The only bad news for tea drinkers is that herbal teas do not contain the same antioxidant properties as green or black teas.

Resources:

Tea's ability to reduce oxidative stress may be especially beneficial to smokers, according to research by IU School of Medicine professor James Klaunig, PhD.

Visit the Tea Health Web site for more information on the health benefits of drinking tea.

Read the interesting history of tea published by the Stash Tea Company.

November 15, 2003