What Are The Benefits Of Green Tea Vs. Black Tea?

According to Dr. Jonny Bowden, board certified nutrition specialist, Ph.D. and author of "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth," tea is the second-most consumed beverage in the world, after water, and also the healthiest, in his opinion. Many people know that tea is a healthful beverage but might associate the nutritional benefits only with green tea. Both black tea and green tea are good for you and have several health benefits.

Black Tea and Green Tea Fight Cancer

According to Bowden, both black tea and green tea can help prevent cancer. Green tea and black tea contain groups of very powerful polyphenols called catechins. One specific catechin in green tea called epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, is thought to play a significant role in preventing cancer. It once was thought that only green tea had anticancer properties because the fermentation process of creating black tea oxidized or deactivated the EGCG. While black tea does not contain EGCG, it does contain several other antioxidants, such as biflavonols and theaflavins that exhibit powerful, an perhaps stronger, cancer preventing properties, according to Bowden. For cancer-fighting purposes, you can consider both black tea and green tea to be equal and you are encouraged to consume both.

Black Tea Prevents Cardiovascular Ailments

According to Dr. Joseph Vita at the Boston University School of Medicine, black tea can encourage optimal blood vessel function, which will help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Vita found that black tea can reverse abnormal functioning of your blood vessels, and improvements can be seen in as few as two hours from drinking just a single cup of black tea. Additionally, blood flow to the coronary arteries can improve after a few hours as well. Black tea also can lower your cholesterol and triglycerides, both of which are risk factors for heart disease if they are high. In a 2003 study published in the "Journal of Nutrition," researchers found that black tea lowered both total and LDL cholesterol.

Green Tea Increases Dopamine

Green tea can make you feel good by releasing GABA, or gamma-Aminobutyric acid, and dopamine, according to Bowden and a 2008 study published in "Nutrition Reviews" by Prof. Janet Bryan at the University of South Australia. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for giving you sensations of reward and pleasure. Green tea has an amino acid called L-theanine, which can encourage a sense of well-being and relaxation. This amino acid also might be responsible for preventing a jittery feeling that many people can get from caffeine in other beverages. L-theanine triggers your body to release GABA and dopamine, which can enhance your mood.

Everyone Can Benefit

Bowden recommends that everyone drink green and black tea because virtually everyone can benefit. He notes that green and black tea offer powerful antioxidant protection, can stabilize your blood sugar levels, have an anti-inflammatory effect, lower cholesterol if it is high, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, and even slightly speed up your metabolism.