Drink tea to decrease stress says scientist!
Scientists confirm the link between the amino acid L-theanine - found in all tea plants - and relaxation. Tea drinkers have long believed in the calming effects of a cuppa. Now a tea company says it has scientific evidence to prove the benefits of an amino acid found in tea, L-theanine. A British and Japanese study sponsored by Unilever, first suggested the link between L-theanine, found in all tea plants, and relaxation. Independent scientists at Oxford University had since confirmed the link, Unilever Institute scientist Gail Owen said today.
"What we found out is that just 50 milligrams of L-theanine (or two to three cups of tea) increases the alpha brain activity associated with a feeling of being relaxed yet still alert," Dr Owen, who was visiting Sydney today, said while alcoholic drinks might aid in relaxation, and caffeine-based drinks could improve energy, tea was the only product that provided a good balance.
"People might have a glass of wine or beer to relax but the problem is that it can often make you quite sleepy," she said. "The unique thing about L-theanine is that it promotes neither sleep nor over-stimulation, which you may find with some caffeinated drinks." (Austalian Associated Press May 16)
Antioxidants in Green and Black Tea
Tea is brimming with antioxidants, the disease-fighting compounds that help your body stave off illness. Read the tea leaves, caffeine lovers. Tea is gaining ground over coffee. Even Starbucks is bucking up its tea menu. The health benefits of tea are one compelling reason: Green and black teas have 10 times the amount of antioxidants found in fruits and veggies, by one estimate.
Studies of humans and animals show that the antioxidants in black and green teas are highly beneficial to our health, says 82-year-old John Weisburger, PhD, senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention in Valhalla, N.Y. (Article from Web MD)
Antioxidants
There is growing evidence that antioxidants help reduce conditions such as heart disease, stroke and cancers. This is achieved through fighting the action of free radicals, which promote these diseases. Tea, both black and green, is a major source of these antioxidants in the form of flavonoids.
Free radicals are unstable molecules that naturally occur in the body as a result of chemical reactions during normal cellular processes. In an attempt to stabilise, they attack other molecules in the body potentially leading to cell damage and triggering the formation of another free radical resulting in a chain reaction. Some scientists believe that this type of free radical action has been implicated in certain chronic ageing diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, cataracts and Alzheimer’s disease.
One study concluded that at the typical NZ daily consumption of 3 cups a day, tea has approximately the same antioxidant power as eating six apples4. Another study found that one or two cups of tea has the same ‘radical scavenging capacity’ as five portions of fruit and vegetables or 400mg vitamin C equivalents.
Tea and Alzheimers Disease
A new medical study from England ’s University of Newcastle upon Tyne shows that green and black teas may inhibit certain brain enzymes linked to Alzheimer ’s disease. The study ’s findings may lead to new therapeutic developments for dementia and Alzheimer ’s disease, which is estimated to affect 10 million people worldwide. Coffee, in contrast, did not show any significant effects in the study. Researchers found that tea stops the activity of chemicals in the brain associated with the development of Alzheimer ’s disease. (Article from WebMD)
Tea and Cardiovascular Health
A number of epidemiological studies have demonstrated that flavonol/flavonoid of tea consumption is linked to protection from heart disease and stroke. Mechanisms for this improvement are the prevention of LDL oxidation, reduction in blood lipids anti-inflammatory actions, improvements in blood vessel function and inhibition of platelet aggregation have been established mainly in animal and in vitro studies.
Tea and High Blood Pressure
Researchers found that men and women who drank tea on a daily basis for at least a year were much less likely to develop hypertension than those who didn't, and the more tea they drank, the bigger the benefits. Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Water is first. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the most common form of heart disease and affects about 20% of the adult population in many countries. The condition is associated with stroke, heart failure, and kidney dysfunction and is a major risk factor for heart-related death. (Artcle from WebMD)
Tea and your Immune System
A recent US study from the Harvard medical school found that a chemical in Tea boosts the body's defence fivefold against disease. They said the chemical (L-theanine) is broken down in the liver to ethylamine primes immune system cells to attack bacteria, viruses and fungi and could, perhaps, be turned into a disease-fighting drug someday. (Article from New York Times)
Green tea vs Black Tea
Both green tea and black tea come from the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis, however the processing that the leaves undergo to make the final tea is different resulting in slightly different chemical properties. Green tea contains proportionally more of the simple flavonoids called catechins, while black tea mainly has the more complex flavonoids called the aflavins and the arubigins. But both types are powerful antioxidants.
Oral Health
The tea plant (Camellia Sinensis) extracts fluoride from the soil, which then accumulates in its leaves. For this reason tea is a very rich source of fluoride. Findings from a recent study demonstrated that after rinsing with tea, 34% of the fluoride was retained in the oral cavity scientists to conclude that tea was an effective vehicle for delivering fluoride to the oral cavity and potentially helping to prevent dental decay.
In addition to its beneficial effect on plaque, tannin, along with other components of tea such as catechin, caffeine and tocopherol have been shown to be effective in increasing the acid resistance of tooth enamel.
Green tea and specific flavonoids, mainly catechins, have exhibited inhibitory effects on the growth of cariogenic bacteria by inhibiting the adherence and growth of plaque bacteria at the tooth surface.
Preliminary results from trials determining the role of tea in the prevention of oral cancer look promising. One double-blind, randomised intervention trial suggested that treating patients with a mixture of black and green tea components could improve the clinical manifestations of their oral lesions
