Tea surges in popularity as new studies show strong health benefits

How times change! A bit more than 250 years ago, American colonists made their displeasure with Britain clear by tossing tea into Boston Harbor. Today, the Tea Council of the USA says more than 250 million of us are likely to sip a cup a day.

Consider it a triumph of nutrition over politics. Basically, the number for nutrients in a plain cuppa brewed from the leaves of the tea plant, Camellia Sinensis, is zero. There are 2 calories, but no fat, no cholesterol, no carbs, no sugars, no sodium, no protein.

On the other hand, black, green and the new white tea are chock-full of anti-oxidants, healthful plant chemicals that prevent the formation of substances that can damage body cells. Because black tea is fermented after picking, a process that enhances color and flavor but destroys some anti-oxidants, green tea is thought to be a bit more potent, and white, the least processed, the most. (Note: Herbal “teas” aren’t teas, they’re tisanes, beverages brewed from leaves other than tea leaves. Some such as jasmine and Mate are caffeinated; others such as hibiscus care not)

The first seriously good news for real tea arrived in 1991 at the Fourth Chemical Congress of North America, when an expert from the Japanese National Cancer Institute identified a substance in green tea as a cancer fighter. The chemical–EEG (aka epigallocatechin gallate) – appeared to slow the progression of cancer in lab mice and reduce the risk of cancer in rodents exposed to tobacco carcinogens. A few years later, Purdue University scientists announced that EEG works by inhibiting an enzyme that cancer cells require, killing malignant cells without injuring healthy ones. Naturally more studies followed, including one run by a 12-year-old Georgia 7th grader. As Forbes.com tells it, he set up a lab in his house where he divided 200 planaria worms into 4 groups. He exposed the first group to EGCG for four weeks; the second to EGCG for 24 hours and then to two carcinogens (not to worry, his dad handled the hazardous stuff); the third group to both, and left the fourth group free of all but spring water. By the end of his award-winning project for the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, it appeared that the worms exposed to EGCG and carcinogens didn’t grow any tumors.

While all concede that more research is needed to prove the case for humans as well as worms, as Forbes notes, drinking tea has more than once been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer, especially oral and digestive tract cancers. It’s also a picker upper. True, it has less caffeine than coffee. To start, tea leaves actually have more than coffee beans, but brewing catches and removes more so as a general rule, USDA’s Food Data Central database says an 8-ounce cup of coffee averages 92-235 mg caffeine while the same cup of black tea delivers a mere 47, green tea and white tea even less. But all contain L-theanine, an amino acid that, combined with caffeine, can help you stay mentally alert. As one report puts it: “A coffee buzz hits hard and fast, but tea might offer slower, more steady energy.”

Naturally there’s a word of warning. Drinking very hot tea (131 degrees to 153 degrees) may increase the risk of esophageal cancer by injuring tissue in the throat.

Safer alternative: iced tea. This man-made treat was created at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis by a Brit named Richard Blechynden whose hot tea stand was bombing in the summer heat. In an attempt to pep up business, Blechynden poured tea into glasses filled with ice and his delighted customers took it from there. Today, approximately 75 to 80 percent of tea consumed in America is iced.

Cool.

— Carol Ann Rinzler is the author of 20 books on health including Nutrition for Dummies