Tea is a healthy beverage, with many types offering diuretic, antioxidant, invigorating, digestive, and lipid-lowering and blood pressure-reducing effects. However, most people may not know that due to differences in the varieties harvested and processing methods, there are some subtle differences in the internal components of the six types of tea. This makes them each have their own focus in terms of health benefits.
So, from a health perspective, the best approach is to choose the tea that suits your body's needs.
How do you make the right choice? Which of the six types of tea is best suited for you?
Green Tea: Excellent for Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Effects
Green tea, made from fine tender leaves, is completely unfermented, preserving the freshness and natural substances of the leaves to the greatest extent possible. Nutrients such as catechins, vitamins, amino acids, and polyphenols are also retained in greater quantities. Therefore, green tea has significantly better effects in terms of antioxidant, anti-aging, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties compared to other teas.
Black Tea: Warming and Digestive-Promoting
Black tea is a fully fermented tea, during which chemical reactions occur, producing components such as theaflavins and thearubigins, which largely determine the color, flavor, and aroma of black tea. Theaflavins are also referred to as the “soft gold” of tea, having an excellent effect on regulating lipids and lowering cholesterol.
In addition, the Fermentation and roasting process greatly reduces polyphenols, making black tea less harmful to the stomach. It also has the benefits of promoting Digestion and dilating blood vessels.
Dark Tea/Puer Tea: Most Appropriate for Winter Consumption
Dark tea/Puer tea is a post-fermented tea, with a high degree of fermentation. Under the participation of microorganisms, many special beneficial substances are converted. For example, the “golden flowers” in Anhua dark tea/Puer tea are a type of probiotic, which is very helpful for improving gut health, reducing fat, and lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
For modern people who tend to consume oily foods, dark tea can supplement dietary nutrition, aid digestion, and reduce fat and blood pressure.
White Tea: Aged White Tea Contains More Medicinal Components
Since it is not subjected to high-temperature fixation, white tea has room for later maturation. Simply put, it is “age-worthy,” hence the saying among the folk that “white tea is a one-year-old tea, a three-year-old medicine, and a seven-year-old treasure.”
New white tea, made from fine tender leaves, has a fresh and mellow taste and is effective in clearing heat and detoxifying, as well as preventing colds.
On the other hand, aged white tea, with the extension of aging years, undergoes transformation of its internal components, with more pronounced effects in terms of antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and scavenging free radicals. As a result, aged white tea is used in Traditional Chinese medicine.
Yellow Tea: More Gentle than Green Tea
Yellow tea, made from fine tender leaves, has a similar production process to green tea, with comparable health benefits. However, yellow tea undergoes an additional “yellowing” process, which is light fermentation, promoting the oxidation of polyphenols, resulting in a smoother taste and less cold nature compared to green tea.
Oolong Tea: Best for Increasing Energy Metabolism
Oolong tea, made from mature leaves, is a semi-fermented tea. Its fermentation degree lies between black tea and green tea. In the finished Oolong tea leaves, some polyphenols are converted into tea pigments, which have antioxidant, fat-cutting, and blood pressure-lowering effects. Additionally, Oolong tea is highly fragrant and excellent for stimulating the senses and refreshing the mind.
A Japanese study tested the metabolic functions of various teas and found that while green tea can increase metabolism by 4 calories per hour, Oolong tea can increase it by 9 calories!
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