Spilling the Tea on Tea

Doctors find a growing number of benefits to drinking tea.

Tea is one of the most popular drinks worldwide. As much as people love it, this drink is increasingly becoming a friend with benefits.

Prisca Lim enjoys a taste of tea each night. It’s become part of her bedtime routine.

“It’s just comforting to drink at night when I’m unwinding at the end of the day,” Lim says.

She’s not alone, many others share her sentiment. The humble tea plant is chock-full of antioxidants and compounds that are well-known in medical circles.

“Tea has very interesting properties. There are many research studies that show that tea can have great effects on your health,” says Naples internist Dr. Deborah Houk. “There are varieties of tea that help with immune health. Some can ward off cancer and cardiovascular disease, and other teas can help with sleep and your mood.”

From ‘pure’ teas, including black, white, and green to herbal blends, there is a lot to love. If there was a gold medal, green tea would likely get it. The tea’s healing power lies in catechin found in the leaves. It protects our cells from damage.

Recently, Johns Hopkins University researchers published findings that green tea may shrink uterine fibroids and treat menopause symptoms. This is in addition to the advantages to cardiovascular, digestive and preventative health.

It’s not the tea dabblers who see these benefits, studies show it’s people who drink tea every day who get a boost to their health.

“The studies that have been done on teas are done on habitual tea drinkers. And by habitual they mean daily tea drinkers who are drinking at least about five cups a day. So, in order to see the benefits, you do have to drink a lot of tea,” says Houk.

As for Prisca, she doesn’t play favorites. But brewing herbal tea is her sweet spot. “I have a thing at home right now that’s like passion fruit ginger.”

Whatever the variety, tea totals up to pretty positive benefits.

All of this may explain why globally, green tea production is around three-million tons a year. It is worth noting that you don’t get exactly the same benefits from processed tea drinks. Furthermore, drinking more than four cups a day may carry side effects for some people, including anxiety and restlessness.