By John Gaudi
Yes, drinking tea is delicious and it’s good for you. In fact, tea is the world’s most popular beverage. Its popularity is second only to water.
It all began at least five thousand years ago. Legend has it that Shen Nung, a Chinese Emperor, was sitting under a tree with a cup of boiled water. By accident, wild tea leaves blew into the Emperor’s cup, and suddenly tea was discovered! Today, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over three million tonnes of tea is produced every year. Canadians drink more than seven billion cups of tea each year. In 2005, the Canadian tea market was worth about $305 million.
There are thousands of types of tea produced from the Camellia Sinensis evergreen plant. Add to that the many varieties of herbal tea now available and you start to see how and why tea is so popular. Tea is full of nutrients and is rich in antioxidants. The good news is that drinking tea helps to stop free radicals from roaming around your body. An active antioxidant in tea, also known as Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate, a polyphenol, is thought to inhibit cancerous cell growth. Although, the health benefit derived is determined by how much the tea has been fermented. The fermentation process does reduce the amount of antioxidants available for neutralizing free radicals. There are more antioxidants found in green tea, for instance, than in fully fermented black tea.
Drinking tea is a healthy choice – science proves it! The Tea Association of Canada provides on-line health resources on how tea may prevent everything from heart attacks to Alzheimer’s. (See resources list below) Many teas are a good source of vitamins and minerals, like potassium and manganese.
Still, when considering tea for health reasons, you have to know which tea is right for you. Michael Stephens, President of Markham Nutrition, says, “Herbal teas, if you’re not aware of mixing certain herbals together, could cause problems. You really have to watch the specialty herbal teas.” Drinking tea is also about getting involved in the finer points of healthy living. Rachel Schwartzman, a Naturopathic Doctor at Markham Village Naturopathic Clinic adds, “The nice thing about tea is that the patient [tea-drinker] has to get involved in the process. They need to boil the water. They need to get the tea. They smell it. They have to taste it. There is a little more connection to what they’re doing than just swallowing a pill.”
For the more traditional tea drinking crowd, the Markham-based The Old Curiosity Tea Shop offers more than one hundred teas for the tasting. Here you’ll find black teas from estates in Nepal, Kenya and Sri Lanka, fruit infusions and organics, as well as herbal tea with caffeine. Adam Clements of the Tea Shop says, “More people are going away from the traditional black teas, such as Pg Tips and Red Rose. They are experimenting with new teas from different parts of the world. We really want people to try new teas, have fun with them and experiment with them.” The tea shop promotes Rooibos tea from South Africa because it is a drink high in nutrients, like calcium and fluoride.
Simply put: there are lots of ways to enjoy the health benefits of tea – if you’re looking to soothe an upset stomach or if you’re in need of a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. When you drink tea, not only are you treating your body right, you’re also drinking a beverage steeped in history. Whether you’re enjoying high-tea at a local tea room or paying homage to the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, tea is here to stay!
For more information:
Tea Association of Canada: www.tea.ca
UK Tea Council: www.tea.co.uk/healthresources.php
Coffee and Tea Online News: www.coffee-tea-online.com
Other tea resources www.learn-about-tea.com/tea-resources.html
2600 John Street, Unit 207, Markham, ON L3R 3W3 T: 905.475.5222 F: 905.475.6369
