To perk you up or calm you down, nothing fits the bill better than a refreshing cuppa. But with so many different types promising health benefits, which one should you choose?
BEST FOR SKIN: WHITE
White tea — which is made from only the delicate buds of the tea plant — has the highest levels of antioxidants, which protect against harmful free radicals. Researchers from Kingston University in Surrey found white tea also had high amounts of substances that protect elastin and collagen, proteins in our skin that maintain skin elasticity.
BEST FOR ENERGY: ROOIBOS
THE tannin in standard black tea can reduce iron absorption from foods, so anaemia sufferers are advised not to drink it with meals. But South African rooibos (close in taste to black tea) can be drunk safely as it doesn’t impair iron uptake as much as traditional tea.
BEST FOR TEETH: OOLONG
Grown in China, this type of tea helps prevent cavities, research in animals has shown. Black tea is good for teeth, too, but oolong, which isn’t fermented as much, has higher amounts of catechins, which have antimicrobial qualities and protect against tooth decay, according to University of Naples researchers.
Tea
BEST FOR HIGH BLOOD SUGAR: CHAMOMILE
According to Japanese researchers, ‘daily consumption of chamomile tea with meals could contribute to the prevention of the progress of hyperglycemia and diabetic complications’. As well as cutting blood-sugar levels, it appears chemicals in chamomile block activity of an enzyme associated with the development of diabetic eye and nerve damage.
BEST FOR ALL-ROUND HEALTH: BLACK
Black tea — our traditional cuppa — is a rich source of manganese and fluoride, which help to keep bones strong. Drinking four cups of tea a day cuts the risk of a heart attack and, with milk added, provides a fifth of your daily calcium requirement. Black tea might also be best if you’re tense — it cuts levels of the stress hormone cortisol, a study at University College London found.
BEST FOR WEIGHT CONTROL: GREEN
Tokyo researchers found that people given a green-tea extract lost body fat and had reduced cholesterol. You’d need five to six cups a day to benefit, and the effect might be similar to eating one fewer biscuit a day. It is thought to be due to the mix of catechins, specifically epigallocatechin gallate, which may raise your metabolism.
BEST FOR INDIGESTION: PEPPERMINT
Peppermint oil, in this tea, is effective at reducing abdominal pain and diarrhoea in people with irritable bowel syndrome. Sipping a cup after a meal helps by relaxing the muscles of the intestinal tract.
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Purdue University researchers have suggested that the beneficial compounds in green tea powders are affected by temperature and humidity.
“People drink green tea for health benefits, so they want the catechins to be present,” said Lisa Mauer, a professor of food science.
“The instant powder beverages are becoming more popular for consumers, and it”s important to know how storage can influence nutrition of your products,” she said.
Mauer found that increased temperature – and humidity, to a smaller degree – speed catechin degradation.
Previous research showed that the powders were stable below the glass transition temperature, the temperature at which an amorphous solid changes from a rigid, glassy state to a rubbery, viscous state.
In that rubbery state, compounds may start reacting with each other faster due to increased molecular mobility, leading to significant chemical degradation.
But Mauer”s findings showed that green tea powder degrades at lower temperatures, even below the glass transition temperature.
“Tea powders are not infinitely stable below their glass transition temperature. They degrade more slowly below that temperature, but they can still degrade,” she said.
“Knowing what”s happening to the ingredients is extremely important for understanding the quality of a food or beverage product,” she added.
The finding is reported in the early online version of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.