The Top 10 Benefits of Drinking Tea

There are many countries that have tea as their favorite drink or as some fancy and supposedly “class thing”. Tea is not that expensive to buy as long as you know where to buy it. Some vendors will take advantage of what little knowledge the consumer may have towards tea. Most tea plants are native to Asian countries, but no one can tell exactly where tea originated from. The first ever recorded history of the consumption of tea is in China dated back in 10^th century BC. And then later this tradition spread to Korea and Japan during the Tang Dynasty. During the 19^th century, Chinese began trading tea to Western nations thus spreading the idea of tea drinking and tea plants to numerous locations worldwide. At that time it was called “chá” which is later changed to “tea” in English language.

Tea was spread to Europe during the mid 16^th century, Catherine of Braganza was said to have taken an interest in tea which had become a habit and was taken back to Britain. It was during the Portuguese expansion in the 16^th century that tea was first imported in Europe. It was marketed as a health drink and was very expensive. Now it is cheaper and plentiful to go around.

There are a lot of different types of tea, but all tea comes from a tea bush called the camellia sinensis. The leaves and leaf buds of this plant is used to produce tea. Different types of tea have different properties of oxidation but they all have similar benefits. Camellia sinensis is native to China and India, but is cultivated now throughout the world in tropical weathered countries.

• Metabolism: Tea increases your metabolic rate and helps lose weight. But this only works if you drink it without adding anything specially milk because it can neutralize the fat-burning effect of tea. When it is said that tea can help burn fat, it is not burning ten or twenty pounds in a week. It helps burn fat by increasing your metabolism and adds more weight loss to whatever exercise you do… assuming you exercise. And some researches show that tea also prevents the movement of glucose in fat cells.
• Heart Disease: Tea is known to lower heart disease by about 20%. Study shows that people that are drinking about three to four cups of tea a day have 20% less chances to get heart disease compared to those that does not drink. The percent increases to almost half by drinking about six cups a day.
• Cancer: Yes tea can ward off cancer and it does a pretty good job. Researchers found that tea helps slow down cancer growth and is even capable of reversing the effects.
• Osteoporosis: Bones can be kept strong for those drinking tea throughout their life because of the mineral fluoride that increases the bone density and thus less likely to have osteoporosis.
• Diabetes: Tea has an effect on insulin which is needed to deter diabetes. Drinking tea can improve the production of insulin in the body by up to 15 times but it still depends on how much you drink. Drinking one cup every other day will not work. You have to religiously drink tea to make it even more effective.
• Alzheimer’s disease: It has been a problem for many and it has been an increasing issue nowadays. Acetylcholinesterase is the reason for this disease and any drug that can inhibit the acetylcholinesterase will prevent Alzheimer’s disease from happening and tea possesses a chemical that can inhibit the neurotransmitters. This must be one of the greater beneficial qualities of tea, but it does not mean that the other benefits are not as good.
• Stress level is decreased: Tea can lower the level of stress a person may feel. Stress can come in many forms, and stress can kill if it is not taking cared of properly. The immune system can be compromised by stress and when that happens, it will open a lot of doors for diseases to take up residence in the body.
• Low Caffeine: Caffeine is low in tea and because some people have problems with caffeine, it makes tea the best source for a drink with all the benefits of coffee.
• Hydrating: Tea can help keep you hydrated. It was originally believed that drinking anything that contained caffeine dehydrates you because caffeine increases the production of urine or diuretic, but more studies conducted proved otherwise.
• Antioxidants: Last but definitely not the least, Tea has always been known for its antioxidants, and it helps fight foreign bodies that your system might have issues dealing with, in other words, it boosts your immune system. Technology has advanced so much these days that it has caused so much pollution to the environment, which results to a lot of free toxic radicals being released to the atmosphere. And this can lead to a number of diseases which fortunately tea can actually help. There is this chemical component called catechins found in tea that acts as an antioxidant which helps in majority of its benefits. The benefit that you can find in tea ranges from treating a simple cold to taking care of a bad breath.

So technically you can never go wrong with tea since all it is really is a good supplement that nature has to offer. And plus, it is inexpensive, it is available in any grocery store and it is very easy to prepare. Here is a quick instruction on how to prepare it:

• Boil water
• Put tea into a teapot
• Pour the boiling water into teapot
• Wait till the tea expands and water color changes (the color of the tea will vary depending on the tea leaf used)

Note: Loose tea is the best type to buy compare to teabags or silken sachets. Loose tea is usually more expensive than the others and most of the benefits here refer to loose tea. Almost all benefits refer to all types of tea, black, red, green, etc.