Thereare actually three basic varieties of tea... green, black and oolong. All aremade from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis herb and the only differencebetween them is the processes used to make them.
Greentea is made by steaming the leaves easily. To make black tea, the leaves areexposed to the air or fermented, which darkens the leaves and gives them taste,while for oolong the tea leaves are only partially fermented.
Theflavours of teas vary depending on the location where the plants are grown.Different growing conditions, horticulture methods, production processing, andharvesting times also affect flavors. Teas from different areas can be combinedto make teas with a particular flavour, called blended teas. English LunchtimeTea, for example , is a blend of Chinese, Ceylonese and Indian teas.
Herbalteas (such as chamomile and mint) are not really teas at all, as they are notmade from the Camellia sinensis plant. Drinking herbal teas is not viewed ashealthful as drinking green, black or oolong teas.
Greentea and health
Greentea has long been associated with a long together with healthy life in manyEastern cultures. Nowadays, extracts from the tea are used in beverages, healthfoods, and health supplements. But does it actually contribute to health?
Freeradicals are molecules that are damaged. These damaged molecules can,successively, damage cells which may become cancerous. Antioxidants may reduceor prevent some of this damage. Catechins are a version of antioxidant found intea leaves. They are part of a family of molecules called flavonoids which haveanti-oxidative and anti-carcinogenic options.
It'sthe flavonoids that give green tea its reputation as a healthful drink. Theaverage quantity of flavonoids in a cup of this herbal tea is higher than thequantity found in the same volume of other healthy drinks, such as fresh fruitjuices, wine or vegetable juices. Nonetheless the quantity of flavonoids canvary widely between different teas and tea products.
Teamaking and drinking
Youget much more antioxidants from freshly brewed tea, compared with other formsof the drink such as instant tea and decaffeinated tea. Nevertheless , tomaximise the anti-oxidants in green tea, you need to steep the tea for at leastthree minutes; five minutes is usually ideal.
Mostpeople in most countries drink their tea hot. America, of course, is theexception... about 85% of the dinner drunk in the US is iced tea. The problemis that iced tea often contains relatively small amounts of catechins weighedagainst hot tea. This is due to the way iced tea is made.
Icedtea is usually made by boiling water to which often tea is added. Once the teahas been stewed for about five minutes, the liquid is cooled by adding mineralwater to double its volume, after which it is refrigerated.
Addingwater dilutes the concentration of catechins. To make sure that ones iced teacontains the same amounts of antioxidants as your hot tea, allow for thedilution by adding 50% a lot more tea than usual to the boiling water.
Researchand health effects
Greentea contains a variety of enzymes, amino acids, carbohydrate food, lipids,sterols, polyphenols, carotenoids, tocopherols, vitamins, caffeine and relatedcompounds, phytochemicals and dietary minerals. Over the last several decadesit has been the subject of many scientific studies to determine the extent ofits reputed health benefits.
Thereis some evidence suggesting that will regular drinkers of this tea may have alower risk of developing certain types of cancer and heart disease. Butpractically nothing much has been proved conclusively throughrigorously-conducted clinical trials. Indeed, most of the claims made for thehealth benefits of best detox teas use analyses ofits chemical composition, some in vitro experiments, and animal studies, ratherthan studies made with people.
Cancer:a systematic review conducted in 2012 stated that the evidence that green teacan prevent cancer 'is inadequate and inconclusive'. The report did statehowever that there is some evidence that this tea can cause a reduction inconfident types of cancer (ie, breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers). However, there's no hard evidence that drinking tea may well prevent cancer in generaland more research is needed.
Heartdisease: some studies show that drinking this tea may subdue several riskfactors for heart disease, such as weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol.However , America's FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has refused to allowlabels on packets of green tea to claim that the tea contributes to a goodheart, on the grounds that this claim is not supported by credible scientificevidence.
Cholesterol:green tea may lower low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol levels in theblood, according to several short studies. But it is not known whether the sideeffects of this tea resulted in fewer deaths. In addition , the evidence doesnot support the claim that this tea reduces the risk involving coronary arterydisease.
Diabetes:there is some evidence that green tea may help control blood glucose levels.However , this has not necessarily been widely tested in people and moreresearch is needed.
Asyou can see, the healthful benefits of drinking green tea never have beenproved in human trials to any degree of confidence, though some recent studiesin Japan get that its consumption does result in a decreased risk of manycancer, cardio-vascular disease, and dementia including Alzheimer's.
Outof place concentrations: one study found that the particular catechins found ingreen tea, if taken at extremely high doses, may well damage DNA. But to do so,consumption would have to be many hundreds of times greater than the amountsthat could be obtained from taking in vast quantities of tea, which, for me,makes the finding pretty irrelevant. Similar results from consuming out ofplace concentrations of other antioxidants, such as vitamins E and C, have beenobtained in human trials.
Adverseeffects
Myown research has failed to uncover any adverse effects of drinking regularamounts of green tea. By regular amounts I mean several cups a day.
Howeverthis tea does contain caffeine. As people with irregular heartbeats or anxietydisorders ought to be cautious about the amount of caffeine they ingest, theyshould only drink moderate amounts of green tea, taking their other sources ofcaffeine intake into account. The presence of caffeine also means, according tothe American Dietetic Association, that pregnant or breast-feeding women shouldnever drink more than one or two cups of green tea a day.
Thereis also some evidence that green tea may interfere with the actions associatedwith certain anti-cancer drugs, such as Bortezomib (Velcade) and other boronicacid-based proteasome inhibitors. If you are taking these drugs, it's best toconsult your medical advisor about drinking this tea.
Conclusion
Thereseems to be absolutely no harm in drinking fair amounts of green tea... in fact, doing so may be very beneficial to your health, whether or not you arediabetic.
Greentea is also delicious and I realize it's helps me to relax. I drink at leastone cup last thing every night and always sleep like a log next.
