A Cup Of Tea May Keep Dementia At Bay

After water, tea is the world’s most popular beverage. For centuries drinking tea has been recommended for its calming effect and to cure many ailments. Research evidence has shown that regular tea drinking can tame inflammation in the body, help to improve blood pressure, improve dental health and support healthy bones.

By Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN, Food & Nutrition Columnist - HealthNewsDigest.com
Mar 26, 2017 - 7:39:11 AM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - After water, tea is the world’s most popular beverage. For centuries drinking tea has been recommended for its calming effect and to cure many ailments. Research evidence has shown that regular tea drinking can tame inflammation in the body, help to improve blood pressure, improve dental health and support healthy bones. Because of the powerful collection of antioxidants in tea there has been much speculation and some research to show that regular tea drinking may protect the brain from decline.

A recent study done at the National University of Singapore followed the tea drinking habits of close to 1,000 older Chinese. The researchers concluded that regular tea drinking could reduce a person’s risk for dementia by close to 50% in later life. For those who carry the genetic risk for Alzheimer’s the risk could be reduce by as much as 86%. Women received a stronger benefit from regular tea drinking than men. Though this study was done on Chinese elderly there is no reason to believe that the results would not hold for other populations as well.

The protective role of tea on cognitive decline is due to the bioactive compounds found in tea leaves – catechins, theaflavins, thearubigins and L-theanine. All these compounds exhibit strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which can protect the brain against vascular damage and degeneration leading to memory impairment. The study showed that any type of tea was protective – green, black, oolong or white.

All types of tea come from the same plant. They differ in how they are processed after harvesting. The leaves of black and oolong teas are left to ferment, while green and white are just dried. Fermentation changes the chemical composition of the tea leaves, so that each tea has a different amount of the various flavonoid compounds. Green tea has more catechins while black tea has more theaflavins and thearubigins.  All these compounds have similar chemical actions in the body so that the health benefits between the different types of tea overlap quite a bit. That is probably the reason the researchers found that it did not matter what type of tea a person drank as long as they drank it regularly.

The benefits of drinking tea can extend to other health issues as well. In a very large study done in France, those who drank tea daily reduced their risk for heart disease by 24% compared against those who regularly drank coffee. The anti-inflammatory effects come into play to protect tea drinkers who have less stiffness in their arteries and lower blood pressure than those who do not drink tea.

Did you know that except for fluoridated water, brewed tea is the next best food source of the mineral fluoride? And, a couple of cups of black tea each day can help to suppress the bacteria in your mouth that causes cavities and the buildup of plaque.

Freshly brewed hot tea contains the highest amount of flavonoid compounds, followed by decaf tea and ice tea. Ready-to-use teas have very few antioxidant flavonoid compounds. Simply squeezing a lemon wedge into your next cup of tea increases the levels of catechins.  But drink tea the British way, with added milk, and casein, the main protein in milk, inhibits some of the beneficial effects of catechins. All dried teas, if stored away from light, heat and moisture will last a long time, up to 2 years. Keep loose tea or teabags in an airtight container away from the sun, stove and sink.

Tea is readily available, inexpensive and has no side effects when used in moderation. Having a few cups of tea a day offers a simple preventive measure to support your health and protect your brain as you age.

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/food%20columnist0/A-Cup-Of-Tea-May-Keep-Dementia-At-Bay.shtml

This Tea Puts Green Tea to Shame

February 18, 2014

Green tea is a great source of antioxidants. It’s just not the best.

It’s true that it helps protect you from cancer and heart disease. Drinking it is a great way to get the support you need to fight oxidative stress. This causes inflammation and leads to disease and premature aging. Even so, you can do better.

A silvery tea grows in the Fukien province of China. Each year, farmers harvest the fresh buds of the Camellia sinensis plant. That’s the same plant that produces green tea.1 But that’s where the similarities end.

This lesser-known tea has 70 percent higher antioxidant content than the green variety. This makes it more powerful at fighting the oxidative stress and inflammation that cause cancer and heart disease than any other tea out there.2 Antioxidants can cut your heart disease risk by 60 percent. That’s why you should drink the tea that’s going to give you the most of them.

It comes with a bonus benefit too. This tea has none of the jittery side effects you get from other teas. It has less caffeine than green or black teas because it goes through less processing. 3

Green tea extract stimulates your immune system to help fight disease. But white tea extract destroys organisms that cause disease in the first place.4

So what is this “new” kind of tea and where can you find it?

White tea.

But it isn’t actually white. White tea is really a pale yellow. Tiny silver hairs grow on the bud before it blooms. They get less sunlight, which keeps them from producing as much chlorophyll. Unlike green tea, farmers pick this before it flowers.

Tea leaves that stay closer to their natural state are higher in polyphenols than leaves that are left to age—like black tea. The longer they age, the darker the leaves. It’s because they go through more oxidation. This makes the taste bolder, too. But it also means fewer antioxidants.

You can find fresh white tea at specialty tea shops. You can also buy it organic online and in health food stores.

References:
1 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/Is-white-tea-the-next-green-tea/articleshow/30041291.cms
2 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22243054
3 http://www.pacificcollege.edu/acupuncture-massage-news/articles/532-health-benefits-of-white-tea.html
4 http://www.naturalnews.com/043721_white_tea_antioxidants_inflammation.html

http://institutefornaturalhealing.com/2014/02/this-tea-puts-green-tea-to-shame/