Black tea, green tea, oolong tea and white tea are made from the same plant -- Camellia sinensis. Ever since the first infusions of tea about 4700 years ago in China were made, the beneficial effects of tea have been examined. This article will talk about health benefits of tea drinking supported by some studies and also mention drawbacks.

 

Tea has negligible amounts of carbohydrates, fat and protein. The following are the many benefits of tea:

 

1. Tea Drinking boosts mental alertness and lowers chances of cognitive impairment. Found almost exclusively in the tea plant amino acid L-theanine actively alters the attention networks in the brain by affecting neurotransmitters and increasing alpha brain-wave activity. This results in an alert, but more calm state of mind. Studies of the elderly Japanese people showed that those who consumed more than 2 cups of green tea daily had 50 percent lower chance of having cognitive impairment than those who consumed less. This is due to the presence of antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG -- type of catechin) in tea.

 

2. Tea Drinking lowers stress hormone levels. Researchers at University College London found that drinking black tea after a stressful event lowered levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In this study those subjects who had been drinking 4 cups of black tea daily for 6 weeks had a 20% greater drop in cortisol than the placebo group.