Tea Basics

Reviewed By:
Susan Janoff, MS RD LD/N

Tea has been around for thousands of years. Several myths attempt to explain how tea was discovered. One legend from ancient China explains that some tea leaves accidentally fell into a pot of boiling water. The emperor tasted this flavored water and liked it.

No matter its origins, there are many benefits to adding tea to your diet. Unprocessed tea leaves contain high amounts of naturally occurring flavonoids in them, up to 15 times the amounts found in fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids are a type of antioxidant, which may help protect us from inflammation, premature aging and diseases such as cancer, heart disease and nerve disorders.

Tea has less caffeine than coffee, energy drinks and many caffeinated soft drinks. It typically does not have any calories, fat or sodium.

If you want to incorporate more tea in your diet, you can add flavored tea to recipes. It works best for sweet foods or desserts where boiling water is required. Glazes, sauces and cooked fruit are good examples of when tea can be added to the recipe. Another good time to use flavored tea is when you are making French toast. Allow your favorite tea bag to soak in the milk you use for dipping the bread when making French toast. The tea will add a little flavor and health benefits too.

Green tea has become especially popular. This ancient tea is being tested to find out if its properties may help conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, skin diseases and Alzheimer's disease.

In addition, experts now say tea may help improve bone and dental health as well as digestive and esophageal conditions.

Get to know your tea

There are four types of tea made from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. These are:

• Black - This tea is highest in caffeine and lowest in antioxidants due to more extensive processing. Black tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidize (a natural chemical reaction that occurs with exposure to oxygen), producing a strong flavor.
  
  
• Oolong - Tea leaves are partially oxidized during processing. The level of oxidation required to produce oolong tea falls between that required for black and green teas, although its taste is more similar to green tea.
  
  
• Green - Tea leaves are only minimally oxidized during processing. Green tea has more antioxidants than black and oolong teas but less than white tea.
  
  
• White - Made from young leaves that have not yet turned green, this tea is the least processed of all teas. Because no oxidation occurs during processing, white tea contains the highest level of antioxidants of the four types. Rare outside of China until recent years, white tea is now available in popular brands in American supermarkets.

Herbal teas, sometimes called herbal infusions or tisane, don't actually contain any tea. They are made from plants other than the tea plant, such as chamomile or spearmint. Some herbal teas may contain antioxidants, but not necessarily in the quantity available in products made from the tea plant.