“According to a Tang Dynasty legend, (tea was created by a man named) Bodhidharma. After meditating in front of a wall for nine years, he accidentally fell asleep. He woke up in such disgust at his weakness, he cut off his eyelids and they fell to the ground and took root, growing into tea bushes” (Wikipedia).
While this 5,000-year-old beverage may not come from a Buddhist man’s eyelids, my goal today is to explore the truth about tea and its health advantages.
Camellia sinensis is the name of the plant used for tea. While some use the term loosely, tea only refers to beverages derived from C. sinensis, which are white, green, oolong, and black tea. Herbal “teas” like chamomile, rosehips, and rooibos (or red tea) are not actually tea at all; they are different plants with similar consumption forms that falsely use the term “tea.”
So, what is the difference between the four basic types of tea? Well, tea is categorized based on its amount of processing. Black tea is the most-processed and commercially used for sweet tea. Oolong is the second-most processed, which is followed by Green tea as the second-least processed. Lastly, white tea refers to the least-processed form of tea. The general fact to know is that the least processed forms tend to be the most health beneficial.
Now that one knows the main differences in the types of tea, one must also understand the overall benefits that tea has to offer. According to research, tea is recognized as providing anti-cancer attributes, positive immune-system effects, anti-aging properties, elevated alertness, higher metabolic levels, lower stress levels, and healthy appetite suppressant characteristics.
To begin, tea contains anti-oxidants. This is what gives it its anti-cancer attributes, positive immune-system effects, and anti-aging properties. Anti-oxidants are what fight free-radicals, which are simple chaotic cells in our body.
Secondly, caffeine (30-80 mg/cup) in tea attributes to one’s elevated alertness following its consumption. In addition to this, the catechin polyphenols found in tea are primarily associated with its positive effects for one’s metabolism. These two properties are why green tea extract is found in almost all weight-loss pills.
Thirdly, the lower stress level correlation was found to be associated with tea by the University College London (UCL). As shown by UCL, it was illustrated that individuals who consume around four cups of black tea a day, had decreasing cortisol levels after a high stress experience by approximately twice the normal rate. To briefly explain one’s cortisol system, it is simply one’s internal stress system and causes increased blood pressure, lower immune system activity and potentially (as some studies show) increased abdominal fat.
Lastly, tea might be the healthiest appetite suppressant on the market today. The cause is unknown to my knowledge; nevertheless, I can attest to its validity.
Generally, I am cautionary in promoting appetite-suppressants due to their potential for bad use; nevertheless, I do recommend using tea as a way to help regulate one’s eating patterns.
The bad side of tea is this concoction that we call sweet tea. Ultimately, it is negative because it is loaded with granulated sugar. Alternatively, the supposedly healthy practice of taking unsweetened tea and adding artificial sweeteners proves to be even worse than sugared tea. While I do not have room to go into it, please trust me that artificial sweeteners are a health no-no.
In the end, I suggest one to consume around four or more glasses of tea (primarily hot or unsweetened) to obtain all the health benefits as previously mentioned.
While tea is traditionally supposed to include eating the leaves used to make it, one should take that at your own pace. My suggestion is to try several types of tea (primarily bagless if possible). A great idea is to visit Miss Melanie’s Tea Room in downtown Johnson City. This is a perfect way for one to learn about and taste up to 40 types of tea prepared the correct way. To obtain more information about tea and Miss Melanie’s Tea Room, one can go to www.missmelaniestearoom.com or call 926-0123.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to jivory00@hotmail.com, entitled “newspaper”.

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