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Health Benefits and Tea: 25 Things to Know
While coffee has a reputation as North America’s number one go-to beverage, it’s sometimes nice to take a break from all that caffeine or to simply pick a healthier option every once in a while. Just like coffee can be served hot or iced, tea is just as delicious piping hot as it is chilled on ice, so you can drink up those health benefits all year long.
1. Relax
Not only does drinking tea promote relaxation, but it can also help you concentrate. So when your nerves are getting the best of you and you need to take a chill pill, drinking tea (in many cases) will help you calm down and focus on what needs to be done.
2. Antioxidants
Tea contains antioxidants, similar to the ones found in fruits and vegetables, which keep us healthy and slow down the aging process. Drinking a daily a cup of tea can help detoxify your body from pollution, pesticides, cigarette smoke, sun damage, and more.
3. Can Reduce Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke
Drinking one to three cups of green tea per day may reduce your risk of having a heart attack by 20%, and reduce your risk of stroke by 35%.
4. Boost Short Term Memory
If you’re having one of those days when you’re just not on top of your game, try drinking a cup of tea. It has just enough caffeine to wake you up and improve your memory, without causing an energy “crash” a few hours later.
5. Protect Your Bones
You don’t have to add milk to your tea if you want stronger bones. Studies have shown that regular tea drinkers have stronger bones than infrequent tea drinkers.
6. Reduce Stomach Cramps
Red tea has anti-spasmodic properties, so drinking a cup might help relieve stomach cramps or even soothe colicky babies.
7. Healthy Teeth
You can brighten up your smile every time you drink a cup of tea, which contains fluoride and tannins. Those two secret ingredients help reduce plaque buildup and tooth decay. And unlike other beverages, tea does not erode tooth enamel.
8. Boost Immune System
The antioxidant properties in tea also help repair cell tissue, which gives your immune system a helping hand with every cup.
9. Soothe Digestive System
Those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome may find relief in drinking herbal teas such as chamomile or ginger teas, which are anti-spasmodic and help with nausea.
10. Lowers Stress Levels
Feeling the effects of a stressful event? Drinking 4 cups of black tea daily for a month can cause a 20% drop in the stress hormone cortisol.
11. Prevent Bad Breath
If you’re worried about having bad breath, drink a cup of tea! The polyphenols contained in tea can help to keep the bacteria that causes bad breath at a minimum.
12. Hydrating
If you are someone who struggles to drink enough water, tea might be a better way to make sure you’re staying hydrated since it’s made out of water and more flavorful than drinking just plain water.
13. Lower Blood Sugar
Tea contains both catechin and polysaccharides, which have been shown to have a noticeable effect on lowering blood sugar levels.
14. Anti Allergen
Are your allergies acting up? The tea polyphenol EGCG may be helpful for reducing pollen allergies. For an even stronger anti-allergen boost, add some local honey to your tea.
15. Boost Exercise Endurance and Treat Sunburns
If you want to take your workout to the next level, the catechins in green tea have been known to increase the body’s ability to burn fat as fuel, improving muscle endurance. Also, if you’ve spent too much time in the sun, you can make your own DIY black tea sunburn solution!
16. Help Prevent Diabetes
More research is needed, but green tea is thought to lower the risk of Type 2 Diabetes and to help diabetics process sugars better.
17. A More Subtle Pick Me Up
While herbal blends don’t contain any caffeine, traditional tea has about 50% the caffeine that’s normally found in coffee. Your cup of tea is going to perk you up without the pesky annoying side effects on your nervous system, like feeling jittery or not being able to fall asleep.
18. Soda Replacement
An ice-cold tea is just as refreshing as a cold soda. Drop the soda habit by switching to iced tea without any added sweeteners or milk, and enjoy a crisp warm weather beverage that clocks in at 0 calories. You’ll no longer be consuming the liquid calories and unhealthy effects of drinking a sugary soda, making iced tea a good weight loss option, too.
19. Increase Metabolism
Green tea is also good for weight loss because it boosts your metabolic rate slightly, just enough to burn about 70-80 extra calories a day. This doesn’t sound like much, but could add up over time to make a noticeable difference.
20. Eases Nervous Tension and Irritability
If you’re feeling a little on edge, red tea (also known as rooibos) is a relaxing tea that can help ease tense nerves.
21. Ease Headaches and Insomnia
Rooibos is great in general for body irritations and inflammation. Sipping on some red tea while your head is throbbing could help that headache disappear.
22. Lower Cholesterol
For those who are on low-fat diets in hopes of lowering cholesterol levels, try adding tea to your daily routine. The combination of a low-fat diet and drinking tea has shown a 16% drop in cholesterol over a 12-week period, compared to those who just ate a low-fat diet.
23. Tea Aids Digestion
Tea has been used for thousands of years as an after-meal digestive aid, thanks to the high levels of naturally occurring tannins. Try a cup after your next meal and see the difference!
24. Help for Acne Free Skin
All those good antioxidants found in green tea can also help fight acne. It’s even thought to be similarly effective when compared to harsh benzoyl peroxide treatments.
25. Prevent Food Poisoning
Did you try a new place for lunch and it didn’t settle in your stomach quite right? Sip on a cup of green tea. Green tea contains catechin, which has been shown to kill off food poison-causing bacteria and minimize its effects.