Tea and Health

The Chinese have long considered tea to be a healthy drink. In recent years we have become more aware of the health benefits of our daily cuppa. However it's not just specialty teas such as green tea that are good for you. Much research has been undertaken to prove that drinking black tea can lead to a healthier lifestyle:

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
Drinking 4 -5 cups of tea a day may have a beneficial effect on two long established heart disease risk factors: high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Tea is rich in substances with antioxidant properties as well as vitamins and minerals. As with fruit and vegetables, these have been shown to guard against heart attacks, strokes and angina.

What are Antioxidants?
Tea contains a group of chemical classified as flavonoids. They have strong antioxidant activity. Antioxidants help to defend the body from, and repair the damage caused by, free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules which are the by-products of the body's oxygen processing system. When left unchecked they have been implicated in the slow chain reaction of damage leading to heart disease and cancer.

Cancer Prevention
There is considerable research taking place to discover whether these antioxidants can help prevent many common cancers as well as coronary heart disease. Scientists are specifically looking at the effects of drinking tea on breast, colon and lung cancer. It's early days, but the initial research looks encouraging.

Oral Hygiene
Tea has a natural fluoride content and therefore tea drinking can help prevent dental cavities. Plaque which causes gum disease can be decreased by tea drinking.

General Health
It's vital to drink at least two pints of fluid a day to prevent dehydration. Drinking tea can make a valuable contribution to the body's fluid intake. Tea also helps the body's digestive system. So it's the ideal drink after a heavy meal. Tea taken with milk also contributes valuable vitamins to the diet: riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamins B6 and B1. But perhaps the best thing about tea is that it's a completely natural product - free from calories, colouring, preservatives, sugars, artificial flavourings or other additives.

Black Tea Helps Arteries Expand
Studies have shown that people who drink at least one cup of black tea per day have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, but until recently no one understood why. A small study at the Boston University School of Medicine indicates that tea may work directly on blood vessels that have lost elasticity by restoring the vessels' ability to expand when the pulse rate increases.

In an eight-week study, a small group of heart patients drank four cups of either tea or water each day. Researchers inflated and deflated a blood pressure cuff to increase blood flow in each volunteer's arm, then used ultrasound to measure the dimensions of blood vessels. Tea drinkers showed improved artery function. The Boston group speculates that the flavonoids, natural compounds that give tea its flavor, act as antioxidants to protect the lining of the blood vessels.

Decaf as Healthy as Regular?
Only sometimes. According to research results published in Prevention Magazine, the commonly used method of removing caffeine with ethyl acetate also removes up to 70% of tea's polyphenols - the compounds that can help prevent cancer and heart disease. The more expensive carbon dioxide method of decaffeination leaves about 90% of the polyphenols. Taylors of Harrogate and Harrisons & Crosfield use only the carbon dioxide method in producing its decaffeinated teas.

Green Tea and Arthritis
According to a study published in the March 2001 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the catechins in green tea may benefit arthritis patients by reducing the degradation of cartilage. A British laboratory study on human and bovine cartilage showed that the green tea catechins prevented collagen breakdown. Although additional studies are needed, the researchers concluded that the consumption of green tea might prevent arthritis damage by reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown.