Why Everyone should drink Tea: Health Benefits and Kinds

There are plenty of teas to choose from.  If you don’t like tea, you may be missing the kind you haven’t tried and the tea your body may love. Let’s talk Tea and see what you know about the types of tea and its benefits for your health. Find out why everyone should drink tea.

There is nothing like planning the time of day to drink tea.  For me it’s green tea at breakfast, black tea in the late afternoon and always a peppermint herbal tea after dinner.

I like green tea in the morning, because it has some caffeine and gives me extra hydration and energy. I usually have my energy in the a.m.   Since green tea has plenty of benefits nutritionally why not give it a jump on my day. I have already had coffee around lunch, so I go for the black tea in the afternoon to change it up.  

I drink peppermint tea in the evening, because it’s caffeine free, and it shuts down any desire for a snack before bedtime.  The peppermint can also settle any food that I may have eaten that would cause stomach discomfort.

6 Kinds of Teas

Green, White, Oolong, Black all have Caffeine, and Rooibos a South African Herb, and Herbal teas are natural and caffeine free. There are other kids of tea, but these are the common ones.

Tea is made by picking the leaves and drying and rolling the leaves in the sun.  The longer it dries in the sun, the darker the tea gets.   The darker teas have the most caffeine.   White, green and black tea vary in the amounts of caffeine depending on how much the leaf is handled/oxidized, fermented or dried in the sun.

Caffeine Amounts from Tea Charts

• White Tea is an unfermented or uncured tea and has 10 mg of caffeine in it.
• Green Tea has 35-70 mg of caffeine.
• Oolong is the stage of tea between green and black tea and has 50-75 mg of caffeine. 
• Black Tea is fermented and has 60-90 mg of caffeine.
• Rooibos and Herbal Tea have 0 mg of caffeine naturally.
• For Comparison a cup of coffee has 150-200 mg Caffeine.

The best part of Tea is it has 0 calories, unless you add sugar or cream. Some tea may add flakes of sugar in it when manufacturing it.  

I love the green tea from China because it is still in leaf form and unfolds when it is steeped in water.  This is the best green tea I have tasted.   In fact, tea is a common drink in China because of the poor water quality. If you’re boiling your water, you may as well make tea. When I visited China I saw people carry jars of tea with full leaves in them. Tea is like our bottles of water.

Herbal tea is usually made with a variety of dried fruits, herbs and spices combined to make a flavor in the cup.   My favorite herbal tea is peppermint tea, and rooibos tea. I also like a mixture of spices and herbs in my tea.

Health Benefits of Tea

• Tea contains antioxidants called flavonoids which help prevent cancer, stroke and heart disease.   Green Teas have the highest amounts of polyphenols which is an antioxidant. Black and Oolong tea have fewer polyphenols because they have been fermented or oxidized longer.   

• Herbal teas have been known to help with digestion, such as peppermint, ginger, chicory root and chamomile teas.     

• Tea may help with weight loss, but more studies need to be done.  If I am drinking tea which is calorie free, and not eating a snack, then I can see this helping with weight loss.    This is why I drink Tea after dinner.  This quenches any desire for more calories/snacks in the evening. 

• Tea can help boost the immune system with its antioxidants and herbs.

My Favorite Teas

I first started drinking tea on a visit to Finland at 18 years old.   Their coffee was so strong and I didn’t like coffee at that age, so I had no choice but to drink tea when it was offered to me. I usually added honey or a sweetener to it. As my taste buds evolved, I learned to like green tea, black teas and now I enjoy any plain cup of tea.

Blueberry green tea, Comfort and Joy which is a black tea with spices, chai black tea and peppermint herbal tea are my favorites. I just tried a detox tea with green tea, Oolong tea, Mint Leaf, Moringa, Star Anise, Chicory Root, Turmeric, and Ginger. I am game to try new teas all the time.

We grow our own Chocolate Mint and Raspberry leaves in the summer. We dry them to use for tea in the fall and winter.  

How to make a good cup of tea.

Make a cup of tea in 2-5 minutes. Steep according to tea recommended instructions.  This varies based on the type of tea.  An herbal tea usually requires 5 minutes of steeping in water.  The water should be 170 – 212 degrees Fahrenheit.   If you really want to get technical go to the artoftea.com for a tea steeping chart.

Tea Ideas

• Add green tea to strawberries with ice.  See blog on strawberry green tea drink for the recipe.

• Make Kombucha. Kombucha is made from black tea, sugar and a scoby. I will do a blog on kombucha in the future.

• Make cold brew tea in the sun or with a cold brew tea bag.  See blog on Cold brew coffee and tea

• Make Earl Gray tea with cream and vanilla syrup to make a London Fog.

• Many Teas can be made stronger and combine with hot milk and honey to make a Tea Latte.

When Its cold out, there is nothing like warming up to a cup of Tea.  If you like to add cream, milk or sugar to your tea you can do so like the British.   Treat tea just like coffee or what your taste buds like.  When you add milk, sugar and cream you will lose 0 calories for Tea but gain a few nutrients.

I hope you enjoy Tea to start your day and to end your day. Tea for Me, you and soon everyone.  

What is your favorite kind of Tea? Comment below.

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