Green tea can be more than a comforting brew
The wind is blowing snow around outside and you’re sitting comfortably
in your chair, sipping a cup of hot tea, warming you from the inside
out. And holding the warm mug is a bonus for your cold fingers.
Tea was discovered in China more than 4,000 years ago and today is
one of the world’s most popular drinks. All teas are made from the leaf
of the Camellia sinesis plant and there are only three types of tea—green,
oolong, and black. They differ only in the duration of fermentation.
Black tea is fully fermented, oolong is partially fermented, and green
is not
fermented at all, only steamed. Types of tea, like Ceylon and Darjeeling,
refer to the region where the tea is grown. Herbal and flavored teas
are an infusion of ingredients other than or in combination with Camellia
sinesis.
But tea is more than a steamy, comforting brew. Evidence of green tea’s
health-promoting properties is becoming more wide spread, says Nicole
Nisly, M.D.,
UI Health Care physician specializing in alternative medicines at the
UI
Family Care Center. The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits
of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches
to depression.
Western research is providing evidence supporting the health benefits
of drinking tea, especially green tea. "I recommend green tea regularly
to my patients with cancer," says Nisly. The Journal of the National
Cancer Institute has published
several articles about green tea including the results of an epidemiological
study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal
cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly 60 percent.
There is also research indicating that the antioxidants in green tea
lower total cholesterol levels, as well as improve the ratio of good
(HDL) cholesterol
to bad (LDL) cholesterol. Green tea is loaded with catechin polyphenols,
a type of photochemical with 100 times the antioxidant kick of vitamin
C.
But beware, you’ll have to swallow a lot of green tea to gain some
of the health-promoting benefits. While there are no scientific standards
set for how much green tea can be beneficial, studies touting the success
of green tea report that subjects drank between three and six cups of
tea daily. Green tea contains caffeine, but not as much as coffee.
Brew a good cup of tea
While a good cup of tea is as distinctive as the person drinking it,
here are a few tips on how to brew a cuppa to get the most health benefits
from green tea:
- Size of tea leaves
- Small loose leaf green tea is the best choice because it infuses quickly.
- Loose leave or teabag
- Loose leaf is best. If you use a teabag, continuously dunk the teabag
in the water to increase extraction of the catechin polyphenols.
- Water temperature
- Boiling water promoted the extraction of catechin polyphenols.
- Steeping time
- Steep for two to five minutes. Catechin polyphenols content increases
with steeping time.
|
 For more information:
Nicole Nisly, M.D.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute |
