Tea is the second mostly consumed beverage on the earth, after water. Inexperienced tea, black tea, mint tea and chamomile tea spotlight a seemingly limitless array of wholesome teas.
However, not all sorts of tea are created equal. Sure varieties are more healthy than others. Some are practically as excessive in caffeine as your morning espresso, whereas sure natural teas may provide help to relaxation higher, ease nausea, or assist digestion after an enormous meal.
“I really like tea,” says Brocha Soloff, BS, RD, CDN, founding father of iHeart Well being. “It’s the greatest low-calorie winter drink.”
Let’s run down the listing of the healthiest sorts of teas. (Observe: sugary “candy tea,” detox teas for weight reduction, and fat-burning teas did not make this listing!)
1. Black Tea
As with inexperienced, white, oolong, and puer teas, black tea comes from a plant often called Camellia sinensis. The distinction between these kinds of teas is how they’re processed, however they’re all from the identical plant.
About 84% of all tea consumed within the US annually is black tea, in accordance with the Tea Affiliation of the USA. Black tea is constructed from younger leaves and buds which have been utterly oxidized, which is what offers the leaves their darkish colour.
Black tea has probably the most caffeine of all teas, with about 47 mg per cup. (By comparability, a cup of brewed breakfast mix espresso incorporates about 92 mg.)
“Black tea is nice for oral well being, coronary heart well being, and likewise incorporates antioxidants,” says Soloff.
2. Oolong Tea
Oolong teas are made by partially oxidizing tea leaves, giving this tea energy and colour that’s a cross between black tea and inexperienced tea.
Whereas not as well-known within the US as black or inexperienced tea, oolong tea incorporates the identical useful polyphenols and — like different sorts of tea — presents loads of well being advantages on your coronary heart, mind, bones, and tooth, says Soloff.
As well as, research recommend it could enhance your metabolism, and may defend towards creating kind 2 diabetes in addition to sure sorts of most cancers.
“On the finish of the day, oolong tea is an extremely wholesome and engaging addition to your life-style,” Soloff says.
3. Inexperienced Tea
Extensively often called a superfood, inexperienced tea is constructed from tea leaves that aren’t oxidized after harvest. They’re as a substitute steamed, then shortly dried and saved. Inexperienced tea has about 29 mg of caffeine per cup.
Whereas all tea is wholesome, “inexperienced tea might be the healthiest,” says Soloff.
Inexperienced tea will get this wonderful popularity as a result of it’s excessive in antioxidant-like compounds, that are believed to have a useful impact on mind perform. The perfect-known antioxidant-like compound in inexperienced tea is EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). Inexperienced tea may assist help weight reduction.
Inexperienced tea will get this noble, excellent, and many others., popularity as a result of it’s excessive in antioxidants, which is believed to have a useful impact on mind perform.
4. Matcha Inexperienced Tea
Matcha is a kind of shade-grown inexperienced tea with much more antioxidant-like compound exercise — and caffeine than primary inexperienced tea. The leaves are rigorously, finely floor into the intense inexperienced powder you see utilized in lattes and baked items.
Not solely does it have all the identical advantages as common inexperienced tea, however matcha additionally incorporates 137 occasions extra EGCG! This excessive degree of EGCG is believed to positively influence temper and cognition, too.
5. White Tea
Like inexperienced tea, white tea comes from leaves that aren’t oxidized. The distinction is that white tea is constructed from leaves and buds that haven’t totally opened. They continue to be coated with skinny, white hairs.
White tea has a extra delicate style and barely much less caffeine. It’s thought-about to be a kind of inexperienced tea, with lots of the similar advantages.
Like inexperienced tea, “white tea is excessive in antioxidant-like compounds and is nice for weight reduction, insulin resistance, and osteoporosis,” says Soloff.
6. Puer Tea
Darkish teas like puer (or pu-erh) are fermented, giving them a wealthy, darkish style. Just like black teas by way of their advantages, puer teas are filled with polyphenols and regarded to be a fermented beverage.
7. Chamomile Tea
Constituted of the dried flowers of the chamomile plant, chamomile tea has an extended historical past of use as a medicinal herb.
Whereas extra analysis is required, chamomile has been proven to assist with digestion and sleep. Swap your PM glass of chardonnay for a cup of chamomile to advertise higher sleep.
8. Mint Tea
Peppermint and spearmint are wealthy in antioxidant-like compounds, and are one of the crucial extensively consumed natural teas.
Whereas a variety of well being advantages have been ascribed to peppermint oil, there’s inadequate scientific proof that these lengthen to its drinkable kind. Serve mint tea after huge meals as a digestif.
9. Hibiscus Tea
Candy and tart hibiscus tea (also called bitter tea) is scrumptious heat or iced. Constituted of the dried calyces of roselle flowers, hibiscus tea is wealthy in antioxidant-like compounds and should assist help wholesome blood stress, when used with dietary and life-style adjustments (although extra analysis is required).
Preserve a pitcher of this sizzling pink tea within the fridge all summer season lengthy!
10. Ginger Tea
Spicy-sweet ginger tea is stuffed with antioxidant-like compounds and serves as an excellent abdomen soother. And, whereas extra analysis is required, some experiences are linking ginger to serving to painful intervals, too.
When you get queasy within the automobile, brew up some ginger tea earlier than highway journeys. Dried ginger is stronger than recent, however you should utilize both to make ginger tea anytime.
11. Passionflower Tea
Passionflower tea has a mildly candy and fruity style. Constituted of the Passiflora incarnata plant, this herb has been been reported to scale back nervousness in people with nervousness problems and assist enhance sleep high quality. Sip a mug at bedtime or when feeling significantly anxious.
12. Fruit Tea
Need the sweetness of fruit juice with out the sugar or energy? Attain for a fruit tea, constructed from dried fruit or fruit extracts. “I really like fruit-flavored teas,” says Soloff. “They offer me that style of getting one thing flavored however with out the sugar of fruit drinks.”
Serve them iced in case you’re making an attempt to kick a juice or soda behavior, and as a substitute of including sweetener add a squeeze of lemon or lime.
Is It OK to Drink Tea Each Day?
When you don’t add cream or sugar, tea is of course calorie-free, and Soloff considers its well being advantages to be superior to espresso’s. And, sipping on tea may very well be a great way to remain hydrated, too.
“Natural teas rely towards your hydration objectives until they comprise caffeine, which they normally don’t,” says Soloff. That’s nice information for anybody who will get bored sipping on plain water all through the day.
When you drink tea for the caffeine, that’s tremendous, however Soloff says you’ll must drink much more water to achieve your hydration objectives.
Due to the diuretic impact of caffeine, she says, ingesting a cup of caffeinated tea (like black tea or inexperienced tea) can be like ingesting half a cup of water. (A useful behavior is to drink a cup of water after each cup of espresso or tea.)
The caffeine content material in tea can vary from 14 to 61 mg per serving:
- White tea incorporates the least caffeine.
- Oolong and inexperienced tea are within the center.
- Black tea is probably the most caffeinated tea.
Analysis printed in 2008 within the Journal of Analytical Toxicology discovered that caffeine content material can differ by model and steeping time, too.
From offering vitality, boosting well being, and selling restfulness, every kind of tea comes with their very own distinctive advantages, so use this information to find out which one is best for you.
