by John Kapenekakis

Created on: November 24, 2009

Green tea's health-promoting effects have been acclaimed for thousands of years. But you will get few of those benefits if you simply buy tea bags in a pretty box and enjoy the brew.

Traditional Chinese Medicine recommends green tea to enhance the immune system, for detoxification, as an energizer-and to treat headaches, indigestion, body aches, and depression. Asians drink green tea primarily as a pleasant beverage and mild tonic. Its benefits are mainly preventative, i.e., to maintain good health and prolong life.

But green tea is not a good drink for children because of its caffeine; herb tea, such as peppermint, is better. However, green tea in moderation can be beneficial for teenagers.

Following are some of the health benefits attributed to green tea by modern research: (1) helps maintain healthy teeth, (2) reduces blood cholesterol, (3) strengthens blood vessels, (4) speeds liver healing, (5) promotes healing from radiation sickness, (6) helps prevent strokes and heart problems, and (7) helps prevent cancer.

Scientists attribute most of green tea's beneficial effects to its antioxidants-especially polyphenols, which are natural chemicals found in a wide variety of plants, and are the most abundant antioxidants in human diets.

Antioxidants combine with free radicals to prevent damage to important molecules, such as DNA, RNA, fats and proteins. A free radical, which is created by normal metabolism, is an atom or a molecule with an unpaired electron.

Note that most of green tea's benefits are not present in black tea, in which the leaves' active ingredients have been destroyed or altered because of its processing. But the question remains, how do you get these benefits?

Tea bags almost invariably contain just dust and fannings (tiny leaf particles; fannings are slightly larger than dust). A tea bag will quickly give you a strong dark beverage, but you won't get the health benefits available from quality loose-leaf tea. However, the flavor and aroma might be excellent because of additional ingredients, including the ubiquitous and unspecified "natural flavorings."

Premium loose-leaf teas are clearly superior to teas in commercial tea bags. Tea processors buy tea in leaf form. After the leaves are processed, they are sifted and sorted. Premium teas are generally chosen from large leaves, and lower grades of tea come from small leaves. Broken or bruised leaves are used for tea bags. The increased surface area of powdered or finely cut leaves causes them

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