• July 20, 2016
• Emilie
• no comments

We’ve all heard that tea is amazingly healthy, but do you actually know why? We didn’t, so we decided to look through scientific research to find some of tea’s most impressive functions. We were shocked by just how much tea can do, and we’re sure you will be as well! This list will turn you into a tea drinker in no time.

1. Improves cognitive attention. Not only does tea make you more alert, it also improves your cognitive attention in several ways. Attention refers to the ability to focus on specific information, while cutting out less important information. A recent double blind study showed that black tea aids with visual accuracy with attention tasks. So the next time you’re trying to concentrate on one task, don’t just rely on coffee, reach for the tea!

2. Antioxidant properties. Green tea is especially high in antioxidants, which is awesome for your health in many ways. Antioxidants help improve your immune system, decrease risk of heart disease, and has a helping role in preventing all other kinds of diseases.

3. Anti-aging effects. White tea is less processed than any other caffeinated tea- black, green or oolong. Therefore, it has additional health benefits that other teas do not have. White tea has high antielastase and anticollagenase properties, which leads to anti-aging effects for your skin and lungs (among other organs). That means white tea will have you looking and feeling younger.

4. Anti-obesity effects. White tea has been shown to be the tea most effective at stimulating lipolytic activity. What does that mean? It means that white tea helps break down fat better in your body. This decreases stores of fat deposits, and fights against obesity.

5. Anti-cancer effects. Recently, studies have shown that dandelion roots actually have antioxidant and detoxifying effects. But, even more astonishingly, they actually increase apoptosis (otherwise known as cell death) in pancreatic cancer cells. There are also studies that suggest these same effects may occur with leukemia and melanoma cancer cells. With such amazing effects, grab some dandelion root tea for yourself. White tea has also shown to increase apoptosis in regards to non small cell lung cancer.

6. Anti-dementia effects. Dementia has no cure, and while tea does not cure dementia, green tea has been shown to slow its effects. Some studies have even shown improved cognitive functioning in dementia patients after they begin to drink tea regularly. The reasons behind these effects are not entirely clear, but it may be because tea leads to increased frontal and parietal lobe connectivity. It may also work by enhancing the health benefits of dementia medicines.

7. Anti-diabetes effects. It turns out that black tea actually fights against type 2 diabetes. Research suggests that by drinking 3-4 cups a day, your risk of diabetes  decreases by 20%.

8. Improves bone health. Although most bone-related tea studies have been done on non-human animals, there is research suggesting many types of bone benefits from drinking tea. This includes prevention of bone loss from aging, and the increase of many other bone health and strengthening properties.

Believe it or not, this is just a short list! Tea has also been linked to improvement with cardiovascular disease and improved feelings of relaxation. So sit down and grab a cuppa, you won’t be sorry!

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Da Silva Pinto, Marcia. "Tea: A New Perspective on Health Benefits." Food Research International 53.2 (2013): 558-67. Web.

Lorenzo, Jose Manuel, and Paulo Eduardo Sichetti Munekata. "Phenolic Compounds of Green Tea: Health Benefits and Technological Application in Food." Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine6.8 (2016): 709-19. Web.

Ide, Kazuki, and Hiroshi Yamada. "Clinical Benefits of Green Tea Consumption for Cognitive Dysfunction." PharmaNutrition 3.4 (2015): 136-45. Web.

Mao, Jenny T. "Chapter 3 – White Tea: The Plants, Processing, Manufacturing, and Potential Health Benefits." Tea in Health and Disease Prevention(2013): 33-40. Web.

Giesbrecht, Timo, Charlotte M. Walden, Leo Van Buren, Pieter C. Van Der Pijl, and Eveline A. De Bruin. "Chapter 115 – Attention Benefits of Tea and Tea Ingredients: A Review of the Research to Date." Tea in Health and Disease Prevention. By Suzanne J.L. Einöther. London: British Library, 2013. 1373-384. Print.

Bollinger, Ty. "The Cancer Fighting Medicine That’s Growing in Your Yard." The Truth About Cancer: Educate, Expose, Eradicate. N.p., 2016. Web.