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It’s likely that we all enjoy a hot cup of tea — or herbal infusion — at least from time to time, if not on a daily basis. But what are the most important health benefits that some of these soothing teas can bring us? Read on to learn more about the top teas for our health.
Share on Pinterest Some teas and herbal infusions have long been appreciated for their alleged health benefits, but what does research have to say?
“Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage,” writes 19th-century Japanese scholar Okakura Kakuzo in his infamous publication The Book of Tea
In it, he speaks at length about the history of tea and the philosophy of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
Kakuzo was correct: modern research about the history of tea-drinking in the world confirms that this beverage was originally consumed less for pleasure or as a mindfulness aid, calling for the drinker to take slow sips and be in the moment.
Instead, as shown by Prof. Victor Henry Mair — from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia — in The True History of TeaCamellia sinensis
The tea plant’s main varieties — Camellia sinensis sinensisCamellia sinensis assamica
There are many other types of teas and infusions using various other plants, such as Aspalathus linearis
A favorite with tea drinkers everywhere, green tea has been praised for its medicinal properties for years. Some recent studies have now confirmed some of these benefits, suggesting that green tea may protect various aspects of our health.
Share on Pinterest Green tea can increase cognitive functioning.
To begin with, this beverage has been found to enhance cognitive functioning, with one study connecting it to better working memory, the type of we use on a day-to-day basis.
Researchers from the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland found that healthy people who agreed to consume a soft drink containing 27.5 grams of green tea extract exhibited more intense activity in brain areas linked to working memory.
Therefore, participants who had ingested the green tea extract had better connectivity between the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain, which are two regions involved in aspects of learning, memory processes, and decision-making.
The health benefits brought about by green tea have been linked with their content of polyphenols, which are micronutrients with antioxidant properties. As antioxidants, these substances can protect against the action of free radicals, which induce the type of cellular damage consistent with aging.
A 2017 study that was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society
A buildup of these plaques in the brain is typical of this condition and impairs brain cell signaling. Epigallocatechin gallate, this study suggests, could stop beta-amyloid from forming into plaques, potentially helping to keep Alzheimer’s at bay.
This same green tea polyphenol has also been said to slow down the growth of tumor cells of certain types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer.
Research that was led by the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute in California has shown that epigallocatechin gallate can disrupt the metabolism of pancreatic cancer cells, thereby impairing their growth.