I always take tremendous pleasure in talking about tea, especially the benefits of tea drinking.
The other day someone asked me the number of cups I take in a day. With six as my answer, they were shocked I could manage more than what they drank – two cups a day.
Yes, it is all about the benefits of drinking tea. So, wonder no more why the Chinese and Japanese keep youthful faces. Part of the secret is tea. No wonder the welcome free drink in most of their hotels, even before purchasing anything, is a cup of tea.
Well, with over a quarter century of travelling the world on tea matters, visiting over 60 countries in the five continents, I have gathered a lot about tea. For me, tea is both a professional engagement and a deep passion.
But apart from being a steaming beverage that we take mostly for breakfast and later to keep the day going, many of us may not know that tea is the world's most popular beverage after fresh water.
Most likely we have all heard a lot said about tea: many disputes being settled over a cup of tea; the common English idiom – “a storm in a teacup” (ie, worrying over something that is not important); the tea for arms batter trade between India and the Soviet Union; and probably the famous Boston Tea Party, which catalysed the American war of independence.
Tea is a drink made by infusing leaves of the tea plant in hot water. The name “tea” is also used to refer to the leaves themselves.
There are distinct kinds of tea depending on the growing method: organic and non-organic. Then the method of manufacture – Black CTC or Black Orthodox, Green CTC or Green Orthodox. Yet others like oolong, instant, iced tea, white tea, silver tips and yellow tea.
Tea may also be classified by the area where it is grown – Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon, Kenya, Tanzania, etc.
Then there are scented or flavoured teas – Jasmine, Earl Grey, Lapsang Souchong, Tangawizi; clonal material; grades of manufacture; or just traditional blends like Earl Grey, English breakfast, afternoon tea, Irish breakfast and caravan; or herbal teas which are just herbal infusions like hibiscus, peppermint, chamomile, lemongrass and others.
There are several traditional health claims, especially among the Chinese. These include the increasing of blood flow to all parts of the body; the stimulating of clear thinking and mental alertness; increasing the body's power of resistance to a wide range of diseases; accelerating the metabolism and the intake of oxygen by the bodily organs; preventing tooth decay; having a cleansing and invigorating effect upon the skin, which assists in the preservation of a youthful appearance; or even preventing or slowing down the onset of anaemia.
At the psychological level, tea is said to help in banishing fatigue, raising the spirits and inducing a general feeling of well-being.
It should nevertheless be noted some of these claims are associated with some teas like green and semi-black teas. These claims are mostly part of Chinese tea-drinking traditions.
With the advance of modern science, components of tea have been analysed and its health benefits claimed in the past have been attributed to respective elements. In this tea, polyphenols are noted unique from other plant polyphenols in that most of them are found only in tea and not found in other plants or herbs.
Research has proven tea polyphenols to have a variety of physiologically beneficial actions that work to prevent the deterioration of foods, to prevent the infection of pathogenic bacteria, and to prevent such age-related diseases as hyperlipidemia, hypertension or hyperglycemia.
Tea also has important levels of antioxidants. Antioxidants keep under check free radicals that tend to pair up with other electrons that disturb the balance within the body, resulting in various problems like ageing or degenerative diseases.
Antioxidants help inhibit blood clotting; enhance vascular functions; arrest immune-depression; and even delay ophthalmological disorders like cataracts.
With all these health benefits, let's raise a toast to tea – by drinking a cup of tea.