Coming to appreciate the benefits of antioxidant tea

Imagine a typical English scene with a group of gentlemen and ladies drinking tea at a country house garden party. This conjures up images of the England of Agatha Christie novels and 1930’s films, but to health enthusiasts it might well also convey an additional message.

Tea drinking has been known for hundreds of years as a social activity in China and India besides England and the countries to where English culture has been exported. Now it is riding a new wave of popularity based on recent research revealing the role it can play as an antioxidant drink.

Antioxidants are compounds found in our body that help protect body tissue against the forces hastening decay and premature aging – a side product of the oxidation process. Oxidation is essential for the metabolizing of fats and glucose needed to generate the heat and energy our bodies require, but at the same time it also generates harmful molecules called “free radicals.”

In simple terms this gives rise to a struggle of the antioxidant defenders against the depredations of the free radicals. If our defenses are overwhelmed damage can be done to tissue and the way opened to disease and the faster onset of aging.

Taking antioxidant drinks, foods and tablets are popular means for strengthening these bodily defenses. According to one recent estimate black and green teas contain up to ten times the amount of antioxidants found in fruit and vegetables. In particular tea has found to be rich in the flavonoid antioxidants.

Investigations have found that antioxidant tea can both embellish the body’s defenses and even repair damage already caused by the free radicals. For example, research carried out by Dr. Oguni of the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences in Japan’s University of Shizuoka has revealed that the benefits of antioxidant green tea include reducing cholesterol and blood sugar levels and slowing down the aging process.

There is also encouraging news for those who enjoy drinking tea with milk according to the British custom – the addition of milk seems to in no way impede its antioxidant drink qualities.

Regular drinking of antioxidant tea is also supported by studies. Apparently each time antioxidant tea manages to knock out a free radical it loses an electron and stops functioning as an antioxidant. Therefore drinking a cup or two a day is only going to have a limited affect; the more regularly you drink the better. Some converts to regular tea imbibing now take as many as ten cups of tea per day.