Dear Oliver,
I have been researching some of the best reasons to make sure tea is part of your daily routine. When it comes to healthy beverages, tea is certainly the center of attention these days.
“Tea is a fascinating, complex beverage and contains many bioactive ingredients including polyphenols as well as caffeine, theobromine, the amino acid theanine, inorganic salts, and elements. There is good evidence that certain classes of flavonoids may have beneficial health effects, so there is a great deal of research interest in tea flavonoids. Flavonoids are phenolic compounds found in most plant foods and in particularly high concentrations in tea,” as reported in PubMedCentral National Library of Medicine.
And, digging in deeper, specifically, Flavanols found in Tea “are a natural compound belonging to the flavonoid family. They have a range of potential health benefits that researchers continue to study and understand,” states MedicalNewsToday.
In addition, tea boasts another compound in the flavonoid family, “Flavan-3-ols are a group of nonessential dietary bioactive compounds meaning they contain no or very few calories and are not vitamins or minerals. Bioactive compounds are naturally existing chemicals found in foods and some have been linked to improved health,” from a report written in the FoodNetwork.
You may already be familiar with Flavan-3-ols as they are found in green and black tea, apples, pears, berries, cocoa products, dark chocolate, and red wine.
The science seems to overwhelmingly support the consumption of tea as beneficial in the daily diet. Although new studies are continuously underway, all varieties derived from the camellia sinensis plant promote many health benefits.
As we discuss the full cohort of flavonoids, we learn they “are phytochemical compounds present in many plants, fruits, vegetables, and leaves, with potential applications in medicinal chemistry. Flavonoids possess a number of medicinal benefits, including anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties.
They also have neuroprotective and cardio-protective effects. These biological activities depend upon the type of flavonoid, its (possible) mode of action, and its bioavailability. These cost-effective medicinal components have significant biological activities, and their effectiveness has been proved for a variety of diseases. The most recent work is focused on their isolation, synthesis of their analogs, and their effects on human health using a variety of techniques and animal models. Thousands of flavonoids have been successfully isolated, and this number increases steadily.”
This is where the science takes us to regular tea drinkers and tea’s role in a healthy diet. At this point researchers agree that people with moderate tea consumption obtain many benefits as listed previously.
“Both green and black tea are rich in compounds … that help dampen inflammation, a culprit in heart disease. Tea drinking has also been linked to lower cholesterol and improved blood vessel function,” state HarvardHealth researchers.
As noted, how the tea is processed, creating black or green changes some of the properties as well. With green tea the leaves are picked and gently steamed to maintain the green color. On the other hand, black teas are left to ferment or oxidize creating different compounds for tea drinkers. Both contain various amounts of caffeine that drinkers should note. All in all, both green and black tea are worth adding to a well-balanced diet.
