Lovers of Camellia Sinensis
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Most people know that they should drink more green tea for better body composition, energy and health. Green tea can decrease the likelihood of cancer and cardiovascular disease, along with lowering LDL, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.
In fact Jonny Bowden just wrote a great 2 part blog series titled the 14 Keys to Longevity. His Number One tip? Drink green tea every day. It is that good for you.
Unfortunately many people feel like they have to drink straight green tea, which can be a little grassy. If you are one of these people, you are missing a whole world of awesome teas!
While green tea has the most research backing its health benefits, other teas are also of equally tremendous value. White, green, oolong and black tea are all from the same plant (camellia sinensis), they are just picked at different times and subjected to different fermentation methods. It is essentially just a giant spectrum of kick-assery!
So as you can see, white tea has the highest catechin content and is especially effective at helping to prevent colon cancer. On the other end of the spectrum black tea has the greatest amount of theaflavins and thearubigins (the catechins get converted to these in the fermentation process) and is the best at preventing stroke.
Don’t just fixate on green tea, you should enjoy all types of the camellia sinensis plant. I recommend people find high quality teas with great natural flavors (nothing artificially sweetened or with sugar). A great website to check out reviews and ratings of teas you might consider buying is steepster.com
Below are some of my favorites:
- White Tea – Tazo Cucumber White Tea
- Green Tea – Tazo Zen Green Tea
- Black Tea – Good Earth Original Sweet & Spicy
- Rooibos Tea – Republic of Tea Good Hope Vanilla
- Pre-Made Tea – Steaz Black Cherry Sparkling Green Tea
There are obviously a ton of teas to choose from, and those are just a few of my current favorites, though it is changing all the time! The point is that drinking tea does not have to be spartan and plain, it is to be enjoyed. So find a few flavors that you like, and drink a few cups a day, your body will thank you.
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Posted on April 26th, 2010 by Brian St. Pierre
5 Comments
April 27th, 2010 at 8:12 am
I’m a big fan of matcha green tea powder. I get the real stuff imported from Japan. I have a cup everyday.
I think it was your blog that got me on to Rooibos Tea. I love it. It’s what I drink in the evenings.
I always add lemon juice to any camellia sinensis teas I drink after reading this study http://www.physorg.com/news114191034.html
April 29th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Kujo,
Matcha is bad ass stuff, nice work.
Rooibos rocks, I drink it most evenings as well.
I am pretty sure you can even just add citrus peels and it will give the same effect, though I am not positive. You can also get tea that contain citrus elements and that should also contribute some benefit as well.
August 3rd, 2010 at 1:24 pm
[...] as rooibos tea on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). I have written about tea many times, check here and here for [...]
December 22nd, 2010 at 1:57 pm
[...] many of these options and their health benefits- coffee (here, here), white/green/oolong/black tea (here, here), rooibos tea (here, here), pomegranate juice (here), Steaz zero calorie sparkling green tea [...]
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