Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Which Of The Two Has More Health Benefits, Black Tea Or Green Tea?

By Mark Miller


Green tea and black tea are from the very same plant. Though the colors differ, both of them are taken from a plant named camellia sinensis. Teas are labeled as one of the healthiest drinks and both black and green teas are beneficial to health. Exactly how are they similar and more importantly which tea of the two has more health benefits compared to other?

Since tea is a beverage, we are going to examine the two teas from a taste viewpoint. Which tea is tastier is a personal preference; in spite of this green tea has more of a bitter flavor than black tea. Black tea features a richer flavor than green tea. For these reasons, many beginner drinkers choose black tea over green tea. Even so knowing that tea is a healthy beverage, flavor might not be the main priority.

Even prior to tasting the drink, color differentiates the two teas. The colors differ because of the tea processing. Both teas go through almost same processing except for the oxidation process. Green tea's preliminary drying operation is a brief process of steaming or panning which minimizes oxidation. On the other side, black tea goes through a complete oxidation process which requires to three hours. This process is the reason why flavor is richer and the color is darker. Just what exactly does that suggest in relation to health improvements?

Camellia sinensis is naturally green just like just about any other plant. When it relates to food, one that is more processed commonly sheds more of its organic components. The same logic is also applicable to tea leaves. Conserving the color green implies it is going to have more of catechins.

Catechins are the active substance found in the tea leaves. They are responsible for benefits for example bad cholesterol, cancer prevention, heart disease and weight loss. Scientific tests have confirmed that a cup of green tea includes eight times more catechins than black tea. In theory, you would need to intake eight more cups of black tea than green tea to get the equivalent degree of benefits.

There have been many tests on the health benefits connected with black tea. Some lab experiments were successful against cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. This proves the curing power of camellia sinensis. No matter what form of procedure it applies, the leaves continue to be good for human body. However it seems sensible to take in the tea which contains more of the active ingredient. So why don't you start including green tea to your diet plan.




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