Is Black Tea Good For You?

“I know everybody’s talking about green tea but what about black tea? Does it have any health benefits?”

Yes, it does, and for people who just can’t develop a taste for the green stuff, black tea is absolutely a healthy alternative.

Remember, the 4 major varieties of tea are all made from the same part of the same plant. All true (non-herbal) tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis. The only difference is in the amount of fermentation the leaves undergo. Here’s what I mean:

• White teas are just immature leaves. Other being picked early, they’re produced just like green teas.
• Green teas are picked and then very lightly steamed or “fired” to arrest the process of oxidation then dried and packaged.
• Oolong teas are produced by taking tea leaves and “bruising” them to release the oxidizing chemical but they’re not allowed to oxidize fully before they’re dried and packaged.
• Black teas are bruised just like oolongs but they’re allowed to oxidize, or “ferment”, fully. Then they’re dried and packaged.

A lot of my “natural” peers seem to forget that oolong and black teas also have significant health benefits associated with them. All teas, for example, are rich sources of a group of chemicals called flavonoids—and that includes the plain old black tea that most of us grew up drinking.

It’s true that the flavonoids vary from one type of tea to another but all teas have them and both green and black teas have demonstrated anti-cancer activities in numerous studies involving animals.

Tea is also a rich source of natural fluoride and the amount of fluoride in green and black tea is just about equal.

So the next time you pass that big display of green tea in the supermarket, don’t feel guilty.

Sources:

Emekli-Alturfan, E., et al. (2009). Fluoride levels in various black tea, herbal and fruit infusions consumed in Turkey. Food and Chemcial Toxicology.

Fukushima, Y., et al. (2009). Coffee and green tea as a large source of antioxidant polyphenols in the Japanese population. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Comments

[Divinity]

My husband and I used to be big tea drinkers until I stumbled on a University study about extremely high levels of both fluoride and aluminum accumulation in tea leaves. Apparently the tea leaves tend to soak these toxins up in high concentrations which obviously would negate any potential benefits of tea itself. It's worth some research for anyone who enjoys tea. Here's a little info on it, there are literally thousands of pages of research and studies that have been done on the issue. http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Fluoride+Content+in+Tea

[Divinity]

Per the comment on the second to last line in this article that reads "Tea is also an excellent natural source of fluoride and the amount of fluoride in green and black tea is just about equal."
I
'm just trying to figure out where the author got the idea that fluoride is a nutrient. The only "health benefits" that anyone has ever suggested fluoride has is to help protect the teeth from decay. (A debate in and of itself.) It is commonly understood that fluoride is HIGHLY toxic and should NEVER be swallowed or otherwise consumed. That's the purpose of the warning on toothpaste tubes that if toothpaste is swallowed, the poison control center should be contacted immediately.

Now I'm not here to argue or "preach" to anyone, to each his own and if people want to believe that fluoride is healthy, then by all means knock yourself out. I just hope that people would research the issue for themselves before coming to a conclusion that it's something they want in their diet. There is enough info out there, both pro and con, for someone to be informed whether they chose the pro or con position.

This article featuring government studies and medical expertise and advice can explain some of the concerns with fluoride (which is a toxic waste by-product of the manufacture of fertilizer.)
http://www.fluoridation.com/poison.htm

Here is some more info and gov't research:
http://www.apfn.org/THEWINDS/archive/medical/fluoride01-98.html

Peace to all.

[Lisa Barger]

Well, you sure took your time for someone not here to "preach". :-)

Regular readers know we've covered the fluoride debate several times before here at LisaBarger.com and we've touched on the aluminum issue in the past as well. Even after all that, after looking at all the evidence on tea, I choose to include it in my diet and encourage others to, too.

If the fluoride that is found in tea and the aluminum that can be were really the great toxins "Divinity" claims, there wouldn't be dozens of legitimate scientific studies and thousands of years of empirical evidence backing up tea's numerous (and proven) health benefits. And just for the record, toxipedia.org isn't an authoritative site--it's a wiki that anyone can edit--and that means those with hysterical political agendas, too.

Readers, "Divinity" raises some interesting points. But it's YOUR health. What say you?