Black Tea -- Actually Good For You

You may not realize it but tea is the most consumed beverage in the world except for water. Since it is such a popular drink, it is a good thing that it contains a lot of nourishing properties.

Virtually everybody has heard that old adage "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". People should realize that the ounces of vitamins, food supplements, dietary products, and exercise equipment they buy as a preventative health measure doesn't offset the pounds of fast food, carbonated beverages, cigarettes, and alcohol they consume that are destroying their health. Many people don't realize that one of the easiest, least expensive and effective measures to shift the winning balance to the side of prevention is right under their noses. If you drink tea you are already a winner but here are a few facts regarding black tea and its miraculous effects.

There are so many different teas on the market it might surprise you to find out that they all come from only one type of plant called camellia sinensis. The different teas get their unique color and flavor depending on the amount of processing the leaves go through.

Black tea, the most common type used in the United States, goes through the most amount of processing. The leaves are picked, cleaned, sorted and then allowed to oxidize giving it its rich dark color. Black tea contains: Favonoids (antioxidants) which improve artery function helping to prevent heart disease and strokes; Tannins which effects gastric and intestinal activity thus helping to control diarrhea (To help with diarrhea let the tea steep for a full 15 minutes);
Theophylline, helping to improve cholesterol levels; Fluoride to help prevent tooth decay; Polyphenols, shown by research to increase the number of white blood cells.

Black tea also contains vitamins c, a, b, k and traces of minerals including potassium and calcium. Loose tea gives more benefits than tea bags since loose tea goes through less processing.

Black tea only contains about half as much caffeine as coffee and that level can be reduced by reducing the brewing time. The caffeine starts to release during brewing after about a minute. Small amounts of caffeine have beneficial effects such as increased energy, improved circulation, and help in the release of waste products. Studies show that after drinking the caffeine from tea that your energy rises slowly, plateaus and then gradually decreases.

As you can see black tea is beneficial, so drink up and enjoy without feeling guilty for not drinking herbal tea or green tea. Black tea may be enough to deliver that extra ounce of prevention leading to better health.

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