Health Benefits of Tea

The medicinal benefits of tea have been known for over 5000 years. Traditional Asian medicine professionals have long used tea to treat everything from acne to cancer.

The high polyphenol, flavonoid, and catechin content of tea, especially green tea, results in an abundance of antioxidant properties, which have been shown as instrumental in cancer prevention. These same antioxidents are also said to help prevent strokes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. As well, clinical trials in Switzerland have indicated that green tea raises metabolic rates, which could lead to weight loss.

Oolong tea is linked to the prevention of diabetes, and green tea aids the retention of cognitive functions at older ages; evidence has shown that drinking two or three cups of green tea led to a 50 percent lower chance of memory loss in senior Japanese citizens. ( http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=66142)

Cholesterol levels are lowered by the consumption of tea. In a controlled experiment comparing placebo liquids to tea, researchers at the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, found that LDL cholesterol levels dropped 10 percent among subjects who drank tea; LDL levels were unchanged in the placebo group. (http://www.adagio.com/info/health_benefits/news_24.html?SID=b1e28e7e16ff... )

Tea has even been shown to raise your body's immune system, strengthen bones and teeth, improve bad breath, and disrupt allergic reactions: in laboratory tests, Japanese researchers found that the antioxidants in green tea block the biochemical process involved in producing an allergic response. ( http://www.adagio.com/info/health_benefits/news_27.html?SID=b1e28e7e16ff... )

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