So, here is the deal to answer a bunch of questions I have heard about tea. Yes, it all comes from the same plant. Green, white, oolong and black are all Camellia Sinensis but they are treated differently after picking. Green, my personal favorite is usually steamed and then air dried but Chinese green teas are often pan cooked after steaming and the glass of tea they produce is darker and can look brown. The bright green Japanese greens are gently steamed after picking and my favorite is Sencha Ashikubo which is very grassy. All of the senchas tend to be a very pretty green rather than the Chinese darker green or brown. Greens like Dragon Well, another favorite, are heavier and less bright green, yet still tasty and very healthy.
I put matcha powder in its own category. Crushed to a powder, matcha is a high antioxidant drink but it is also a lot of caffeine because of portions really. It is so earthy and perfect for a vegan latte. I also add matcha powder to my crazy morning drink, a mixture of Vega, organic decaf coffee and dried spirulina.
Oolong tea, especially delicious is also a favorite. I really love the High Mountain Oolong from David's Teas but it is delicate and needs to steep a while. Oolong tea is fermented but not to the degree that black is, leaving it a distinct flavor.
White tea is picked early and includes buds and leaves making it unique. It is touted as less processed simply steamed or sun dried and is high in antioxidants. For the most part. it is similar to green in taste and strength.
And, while some people view green as the only tea worth drinking, I will come out of the closet and admit, I like black tea too. Marriage Freres sells a huge selection of incredibly tasty black teas including Darjeelings, Caylans and lots of Chinese / Himalyan, some smoky Lapsangs, etc. and Harney has some tasty ones as well.
So, the antioxidant question: is green better? Well, first off, all of this tea is from the same plant, grown in different regions, processed differently, yet the same basic anatomy. Tea provides polyphenols, a class of antioxidants also found in various fruits and vegetables. EGCG for which broccoli is famous is found in significantly more abundance in tea. (Not that I am suggesting dropping the broccoli consumption). Green tea does provide the most antioxidants and the least caffeine. But, black teas are still very healthy and should not be dismissed as unhealthy.
The benefits:
- Tea prevents death (to some degree, death from all diseases; you could still get hit by a bus)
- Green tea lowers stroke incidence and risk of death from stroke significantly
- Tea reduces cancer risk especially by inhibiting angiogenesis (the creation of blood vessels that feed a cancer), encouraging apoptosis (the cancer cells die), stopping the cell division that causes tumors to grow, genetically changing cancer cells to stop division, so we are talking pretty strong powers here. Specific studies cover prostate, ovarian, colorectal, lung, bladder cancers.
- It is a cox-2 inhibitor without the side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs.
- It may prevent osteoporosis (improves bone mineral density)
- Protects the liver.
- Promotes insulin sensitivity in diabetes patients and may prevent Type 2 diabetes.
The things I look to avoid in the tea department:
Teas with flavoring (Avoid it even if it is "natural". If it were the actual thing, it would be listed as the thing. For example, tea with lemon rind versus tea with lemon flavoring) Watch out even at David's Tea (my favorite tea hangout!!!) they have a ton of flavoring so weed through and pick a real tea or a real herbal tea (we love fired up fennel which is tea-less, caffeine free and has no added flavoring). Don't go for ones that taste like anything from vanilla to cake batter. Use common sense. Teavana is another nice store but an offender as well. Choose from their wonderful natural teas and not the ones with flavoring added.
No comments:
Post a Comment