Health Effects of Tea
A tea is either made by infusion or decoction. The typical way to make a tea is by infusing herbs with water. An infusion is made by using the soft leaf or flower parts of the plant. Decoction is the process of making tea from the hard parts of a plant. Decoction requires a much longer boiling and steeping process than a tea infusion. However, no matter which process is used to make a tea, the many health benefits of tea can still be enjoyed.
Flavonoids
Black tea contains flavonoids. According to Dr. Gaby, coauthor of "The Natural Pharmacy," flavonoids "support health by strengthening capillaries and other connective tissue, and some function as anti-inflammatory, antihistaminic and antiviral agents."
Tannic Acid
Black tea also contains tannic acid. Tannic acid has both antibacterial and astringent agents. Tannic acid can have a good effect on toothaches, ulcers and wounds. Some dentists tell patients to place cool tea bags on the area of the mouth where a tooth has been pulled to help decrease the chance of infection.
Curative properties
The-color-of-tea.com provides studies done by researcher Milton Schiffenbauer of Pace University that show the many benefits of black tea. Schiffenbauer concluded that black tea helps to destroy many viruses that are found in the mouth. It can prevent and shorten the length of diarrhea, pneumonia, cystitis and skin infections.
Preventative properties
There are also several preventative benefits from drinking black tea. These include the the possible prevention of prostate cancer, breast cancer and stomach cancer. This is mainly due to the fact that the compound TF-2 is found in tea. TF-2 has been shown to deter the growth of cancerous cells. Black tea may also prevent tooth decay, relieve arthritis, and help burn excess fat.
Tea and Heart Health
Cancer Weekly published an article in 2001 entitled "Two New Studies Support Health Benefits of Black Tea." This article quoted data from a research study conducted in Saudi Arabia where the benefits of tea were noted in 1,764 women. The study showed that tea drinkers were 19 percent less likely to suffer from any kind of cardiovascular disease.
This study also showed that Saudi women who consumed at least six or more cups of tea a day had lower cholesterol, triglycerides and lower LDL cholesterol than non-tea drinkers.
Iman Hakim, M.D. PhD, of the University of Arizona was especially excited about the findings. Cancer Weekly states that Dr. Hakim said that "We were able to demonstrate a significant inverse relationship between tea drinking and blood lipid levels and that tea drinking can potentially affect the incidence of heart disease in a large group of women. This certainly seems to point to a protective effect of regular tea drinking on heart health that warrants further investigation."
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