Health Benefits and Antioxidants in Tea

antioxidant in tea

Tea is packed with antioxidants, whether it’s green tea or black tea. Antioxidants are disease fighting compounds that help your body stay clear of illnesses.

Coffee has been the go-to drink for years, but tea is catching up with all the benefits that it offers. Even big names like Starbucks have tea on their menu. Tea can bring a lot of health benefits, both green and black teas have 10 times the amount of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables.

Even if tea is less popular than coffee, it is one of the most consumed beverages in the world aside from water. Various flavours of tea are available nowadays, vanilla, jasmin, cinnamon to name a few, the list is long but many do like to have a plain tea.

green tea

Consuming tea daily

Tea can be enjoyed hot or cold and with or without milk for black tea. The drink is loaded with nutrients that have positive health effects. Tea has a potent antioxidant called catechins which may help protect against cancer. Studies have shown that people who consume tea every day had less occurences of cancer compared to those who were not regular tea consumers. The cancers that tea can help protect against are prostate and breast cancer. These are the two most common cancers in men and women respectively.

Amazingly, having a daily intake of tea also lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The study for this was on among Japanese individuals who are big tea consumers.

having tea daily

The benefits of regular consumption of tea doesn’t end here. Green tea helps with weight management and can even help to lose weight over a period of time, considering you also adopt a healthy lifestyle. The catechins found in green tea will boost the metabolism and increase fat burning. Regular green tea consumption help with burning an additional 75-100 calories daily.

Drinking tea also support the immune system. In the long run, tea improves brain function, dental health and lowers the risk of arthritis. Health improvements have also been observed in patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Possible Side Effects of Tea

Though there are no life threatening side effects of consuming tea daily, it is important to not consume too much everyday. As with everything that has positive health benefits, when consumed in large doses, it can cause some discomfort. These side effects vary with individuals.

side effets of tea

Apart from the catechins antioxidants, tea also contains caffeine. Consuming too much caffeine can increase the feelings of anxiety, interfere with sleeping patterns and can cause an upset stomach or headaches in some people. Consuming large amounts of tea (caffeine) whilst pregnant can increase the risk of birth defects and miscarriage. Of course here we are talking about a lot of tea, most people will have 3 to 5 cups maximum per day which is okay.

The catechins in green tea may inhibit iron absorption from foods. If one consumes too much catechins, it may lead to iron deficiency anemia. To avoid any issues, infants, young children, women who are pregnant or menstruating and people being treated for blood related issues should avoid having green tea. Also if you have any heart or blood medications, stay away from green tea as catechins may interfere with these medications.

Tea is packed with goodies, but like everything, we need to be moderate in its consumption. The green leaves will help lose weight and help with several diseases. If you don’t drink over 5 cups of tea per day you should be fine. Plus the benefits far outweigh its risks, so you should be fine if you crave for just one more cup of tea.

cup of tea

Health Benefits and Antioxidants in Tea

Consuming tea daily

Possible Side Effects of Tea

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