Do you know the healthcare benefits of tea, whether you drink it regularly or not? Today, we have gathered the health benefits of tea. After reading this, tea lovers will appreciate it even more, and those who don't usually drink tea might start to enjoy it!
Calming and Refreshing the Mind
Tea leaves contain caffeine, which stimulates the brain's sensory center, making it more alert and energized. This helps calm the mind, refresh the brain, and relieve fatigue. When feeling tired or weary, brewing a cup of tea, inhaling its subtle fragrance, and savoring the soothing tea soup can gradually restore energy and effectively alleviate existing fatigue. This leads to clearer thinking and sharper reactions, showcasing tea's excellent calming and mind-refreshing effects.
Preventing Tooth Decay and Strengthening Teeth
Tea's ability to prevent tooth decay and strengthen teeth is related to its healthy elements. First is fluoride: tea contains a relatively high amount of fluoride, and an appropriate amount of fluoride is essential for inhibiting tooth decay. This is why fluoride is added to some toothpastes for better cavity prevention.
Next are tea polyphenol compounds, which can inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria in the teeth, thereby preventing tooth decay. Finally, the surface-active properties of tea saponins enhance the antibacterial effects of fluoride and tea polyphenols. Additionally, tea itself is alkaline, and alkaline substances can prevent the loss of calcium necessary for teeth. Thus, drinking tea also helps strengthen teeth.
Clearing Internal Heat and Improving Eyesight
Drinking tea requires a calm and detached heart. Even if you are slightly troubled, brewing a cup of tea and savoring it slowly can help clear internal heat and calm the mind. This is partly due to the psychological comfort brought by the gentle nature of tea and its blend with water, and partly because the various healthy elements in tea quietly enter the body and exert their unique effects.
Tea not only clears internal heat but also improves eyesight. Since the eyes require a relatively high proportion of vitamin C, drinking tea is an effective way to intake vitamin C. Therefore, regular tea consumption can effectively prevent eye diseases such as cataracts and night blindness, thereby improving eyesight.
Quenching Thirst and Relieving Heat
As a healthy beverage, tea's primary advantage is its ability to quench thirst. When tea flows over a dry throat, the feeling of thirst gradually diminishes and disappears, replaced by a refreshing sensation throughout the body. Especially in hot summers, dry air and intense sunlight can easily cause thirst or even heatstroke. Tea is an excellent drink for quenching thirst and relieving heat. Setting out a few cups of tea in a shaded courtyard not only provides enjoyment but also effectively quenches thirst and relieves heat.
Freshening Breath
After meals, residues often remain or adhere to the surface of teeth or between them. Over time, these residues ferment due to oral bacteria, leading to bad breath or halitosis. Drinking tea can effectively freshen breath. This is mainly because tea polyphenols in tea inhibit and kill bacteria in the mouth, while the surface-active properties of tea saponins help eliminate bad breath and cleanse the oral cavity.
Detoxifying and Sobering Up from Alcohol
The harm of alcohol to the liver is well-known, and tea's ability to help detoxify and sober up is also widely recognized. This is mainly due to the high levels of vitamin C and caffeine in tea. Vitamin C promotes the activity of alcohol-hydrolyzing enzymes in the liver, enhancing its detoxification function. Additionally, caffeine's refreshing effect helps clear a foggy, intoxicated mind, alleviates headaches, and promotes metabolism. Therefore, drinking tea in moderation after alcohol consumption has excellent detoxifying and sobering effects.
Detoxifying and Beautifying the Skin
Regular tea consumption can effectively remove toxins caused by heavy metals in the body. Studies have shown that heavy metals such as copper, lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium enter the body through diet and air, causing significant harm. Tea polyphenols in tea can effectively adsorb heavy metals, promoting their precipitation and excretion from the body.
Moreover, tea's beauty benefits have long been acknowledged. On one hand, tea effectively detoxifies the body, making one appear energetic, youthful, and vibrant, showcasing natural health and beauty. On the other hand, tea is rich in beauty nutrients that moisturize and beautify the skin. Thus, regular tea consumption is an effective and convenient method for skincare.
Aiding Digestion and Relieving Stagnation
After a hearty meal, thirst and a feeling of food stagnation often occur. Drinking tea at this time is the best choice to aid digestion and relieve stagnation. The caffeine and flavanol compounds in tea enhance digestive tract motility, promoting food digestion. Simultaneously, tea consumption prevents inflammation in the digestive organs, as tea polyphenols form a protective membrane over wounds in the digestive tract.
Diuretic and Relieving Constipation
Tea's diuretic effect is partly due to fluid intake, but it is also the result of the combined action of caffeine, theobromine, and aromatic oils, which accelerate urine filtration from the kidneys. As fatigue-causing substances like lactic acid are excreted with urine, physical strength is restored, and fatigue is alleviated.
Additionally, tea is effective in relieving constipation symptoms. This is because tea polyphenols promote digestive tract motility, allowing waste accumulated in the digestive tract to flow effectively. This helps alleviate and treat habitual and nervous constipation.
Boosting Immunity
While individual immunity is related to one's constitution, it can also be enhanced through appropriate scientific methods. Drinking tea is a convenient, healthy, and effective way, as the healthy elements in tea can effectively resist bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Tea contains a high amount of vitamin C, which boosts immunity. Studies also suggest that amino acids in tea enhance the body's resistance. In summary, tea consumption significantly improves immunity.
Anti-Radiation and Anti-Cancer Properties
Tea is considered a promising antidote to radiation. In the 1950s, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many survivors were regular tea drinkers. Research found that tea polyphenols and lipopolysaccharides in tea effectively adsorb radioactive isotopes, particularly absorbing and preventing the spread of harmful radioactive elements like strontium-90.
Anti-Aging and Prolonging Lifespan
Aging is primarily caused by lipid oxidation, while vitamins C and E have strong antioxidant effects. Tea contains not only high levels of vitamins C and E but also catechin compounds. Catechin compounds exhibit strong antioxidant activity, effectively delaying aging and prolonging lifespan.
Anti-Inflammatory and Antibacterial
In ancient China, tea was often used to disinfect wounds. This is because catechin compounds and flavanols in tea have excellent anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. First, flavanols act similarly to hormonal drugs, promoting adrenal activity and providing direct anti-inflammatory effects. Second, catechin compounds in tea significantly inhibit various pathogenic bacteria. Tea polyphenols and catechin compounds also effectively inhibit plant viruses. Among tea varieties, green tea has the highest antibacterial properties.