The United States of America and Canada are celebrating their National Hot Tea Month and we’re taking stock of how the hot brew continues the teacup…
Thank God for tea!
The Northern Hemisphere is still shivering from what has turned out to be one of the coldest winters, ever. Apart from warming our hearts through this intense cold, a cup of hot tea has also been helping you address many more concerns. As cups of hot tea circulate spreading joy through the National Hot Tea Month in USA and Canada, let’s take a closer look at what’s in the cup.
It is essential to know that the benefits listed here are limited to actual tea, the leaf of the tea plant or Camellia Sinensis. Herbal teas or tisanes made from extracts of other roots, flowers or flavors are not to be considered for these benefits. Please read the labels carefully to know if the brew actually has tea.
1. Full Antioxidant Benefits
When steeped in hot water, the leaves of green and white tea release a bunch of complex compounds, antioxidants, which provide more health benefits than other versions of the tea. Tea leaves also give out their natural aroma in hot water.
2. An Effective Detox
If you are keeping a close eye on your weight and want a regular detox, then you should be switching to hot tea, if you haven’t already. The hot water helps activate the flavanoids as well as the catechins which makes the tea more effective in boosting you metabolism.
3. Keeps Depression At Bay
The constant grey skies and the lack of sunlight are one of the key reasons for the surge of depression in the winter. Doctors have claimed that a cup of hot tea helps. “Often a sip of hot tea helps to take off the edge,” it is said.
4. Less Caffeine Than Coffee
Even when you are taking multiple cups of hot tea, it still keeps your caffeine intake under control. When taken hot, it serves as the perfect stimulant while not harming the body or affecting your health, or teeth.
5. Keeps You Hydrated
Well, that works for iced or cold brew versions as well but don’t get us started on the benefits of hot water in the digestive system. Yes, hot tea is a better approach to hydration. It helps to wash away excessive oils in the tracts all the way to the kidneys. Hot tea taken without milk could be the better approach for hydration.
6. Better oral health
You surely know of this one! Hot tea helps in soothing a sore throat and ease the pain that the common cold and flu bring with it. But there’s more! “We have found that the (antioxidants) in black tea will suppress the growth of bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and gum diseases,” says Christine Wu, professor of periodontics at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. “These will inhibit or interfere with the attachment of bacteria to the tooth surface.”
7. Helps To Combat Anxiety
“Tea is chemically very complex, with many different ingredients such as catechins, polyphenols, flavonoids and amino acids. All have been found to have effects on neurotransmitters in the brain, but we cannot tell from this research which ones produced the differences,” said Prof Andrew Steptoe, of the department of epidemiology and public health at UCL. “Although it does not appear to reduce the actual levels of stress we experience, tea does seem to have a greater effect in bringing stress hormone levels back to normal.
8. Happy Heart
Researchers at Harvard had recently examined 340 women and men who had suffered heart attacks and compared them to matched control subjects. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Epidemiology in 1999, found a 44 percent reduction in the risk of heart attack among those who drank a cup of hot black tea or more daily compared to the non-tea drinkers.
9. Stronger bones, reduced arthritis risk
“Tea drinking boosts T cells’ ability to react against bacterial and viral infections,” according to Jack F. Bukowski, MD, PhD, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “I suspect this is good for people with rheumatoid arthritis, who are taking immunosuppressive medications that make them more susceptible to infection,” he add
10. A Good Night’s Sleep
There are many ways that tea can help you sleep. From tea pillows and tea eye masks to ease you into sleep to the more scientific means of drinking a cup of hot tea. We would not recommend a black tea for this. “The ritual of having tea is part of what helps induce sleep and relaxation,” says Jessica Levinson, R.D. Making ‘hot bedtime tea’ a habit can certainly prove to be a wonderful way to relax and rest.
There are many other benefits of tea that are still being reviewed including the benefit of hot tea to combat cancer or HIV. However, these are yet to be confirmed. And while we wait, let’s have a cup of hot tea!
Stay Well Steeped
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