Tea is seen as the cheapest beverage besides water and has been promoted as a health-helping brew since ancient times. As a tea lover myself, I look for any excuse to squeeze in another cup of tea whenever I can. Recent research may actually mean that the more tea you have, the better! So count your lucky stars and read on to find out what good that morning brew can do for you …
In accordance with recent research carried out by the Tea Advisory Panel (yes it’s an actual thing, I was surprised also), may health benefits have been identified as a result of the consumption of the nation’s much loved cuppa.
“reducing risks of heart attack and strokes”
Helping your heart? Yes! It has been suggested that 4-5 cups of black or green tea per day can aid the cardiovascular system, lowering your blood pressure and thus reducing risks of heart attack and strokes!
Further to this, black and green tea are also shown to reduce levels of low-density lipoproteins, thus reducing the amount of cholesterol within the arteries. Green tea appearing to have the greatest impact on crunching the volume of LDLs within the blood.
“improves memory”
Tea has also been denoted for enhancement of metabolic health, particularly green tea. Green tea consumption results in an increase in the level of activity of enzymes which work against oxidative species. Catechins (a type of antioxidant) within green tea affect lipid (fat) metabolism in various different ways and also decrease the absorption of (fatty) triglycerides and cholesterol.
Worried about your pearly whites? In 2010 Japanese researchers claimed that 1 cup of green tea per day may reduce the risk of tooth loss. Green tea consumption may allow acidity of tooth surface to be decreased, inhibiting bacterial growth and in turn reducing tooth decay. This is most likely a result of the increased fluoride content within tea.
“enhancement of metabolic health”
A Cancer Preventative? Early reports have noted tea as a cancer preventative for specific cancers from as early as 1988 with many scientific publications further confirming this. Tea is proven to have an inhibiting effect on prostate, skin, lung and breast cancer.
So maybe, increased consumption of PG tips is not the way, but increased consumption of green tea may help you in many aspects over the coming holidays, especially as researchers at University of Basel in Switzerland found following a study that green tea improves memory and increases our ability to recall information . This could be nifty when it comes to revising for those January exams!
Inga Becker-Hansen
Articles Used : [https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/24/a-cup-of-tea-a-day-could-be-crucial-to-good-health-8069413/]
[https://www.eatright.org/health/wellness/preventing-illness/the-health-benefits-of-tea]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4055352/#S3title]
Featured image courtesy of Mauro Sartori via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
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