The Health Benefits Of White Tea
The main reason white tea and green tea have become popular is the health benefits associated with these two products of the tea bush Camellia sinensis.
From the first time tea was discovered and started being commonly known, it was treasured first and foremost for its health benefits. Tea was used as medicine against many ailments.
Of course, the ancient Chinese didn't know that the reason that certain types of tea have a number of very healthy effects on the body is that they contain antioxidants in strong concentrations.
What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants are naturally occurring chemical compounds that absorb and destroy other compounds known as free radicals. Free radicals break down the cells of the body, and are among the underlying source of many serious diseases and ailments, including heart disease and cancer. Even physical aging has been linked to the activities of free radicals. These substances form in the body and are unavoidable results of the metabolism in the cells.Free radicals
Free radicals are created when the cells convert nutrients into energy. They are also made by the skin when it is exposed to sunlight. Tobacco smoke and poisons in the environment are also major sources of free radicals. Free radicals can't be avoided entirely, but the negative effect they have on the body can be limited.Antioxidants absorb, weaken and neutralize free radicals continuously. Maintaining a steady supply of strong antioxidants into the body is a long step in the direction of keeping in good health and slowing down or preventing physical aging.
In the Western world, our diet does not give us remotely the supply of antioxidants the body needs. The epidemies of heart disease and cancer can to a large extent be blamed on free radicals running wild and unchecked in our bodies. The human body can only manufacture a small number of its own antioxidants to a very limited extent.
Plants to the rescue
Plants do not have this problem. In order for a plant to survive, it must neutralize the harmful effects of the free radicals that arise because of the large quantities of direct sunlight any plant absorbs. They make their own antioxidants – and lots of them. If they didn't, no plant would survive more than a few minutes in the sun before it would wither and die.Many fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, but in varying concentrations. The tea plant is among the plants with the highest concentrations of antioxidants, especially in the leaves. These are the leaves from which tea is made. White tea is the least processed variety of tea, and the leaves are harvested when very young. The concentration of antioxidants in these young buds and leaves is practically the same as in fresh tea leaves that are still on the bush.
In fact, there is no tea with a stronger concentration of antioxidants than white tea.
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Summary: Tea was revered for its health benefits long before antioxidants were discovered. Antioxidants protect against free radicals, and are created in the tea leaves as protection against the sun.
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