You might be a stranger to white tea since 75 percent of the tea people drink around the world is black tea. However, research on white tea suggests that it is beneficial to include in your diet, due to its cancer-fighting potential. White tea also has less caffeine than other choices, with 32 to 37 mg in an 8-oz. serving, compared to 64 to 112 mg in black tea.
Processing
White tea comes from the same plant as black, green and oolong tea, called Camellia sinensis, although it is processed in a different way. Black tea is the most processed form that goes through wilting and full oxidation, oolong tea comes next with wilting and partial oxidation, and green tea is made from unoxidized, unwilted leaves. White tea comes from young buds or leaves and goes through minimal oxidation. Because of the processing, green and white teas contain more catechin antioxidants than black or oolong teas, which lose some in their higher levels of oxidation.
Antioxidants
The antioxidants in white tea fight free radicals, compounds that can cause damage to your DNA and potentially cause cancer. White tea contains flavanol antioxidants, which are a type of flavonoid, also called catechins. The flavonoids and the caffeine in white tea seem to be the components with cancer-fighting properties, according to the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center. Polyphenol antioxidants in white tea also seem to stop tumor cell growth, strengthen your immune system and protect your body from ultraviolet radiation damage. Despite research on all of these properties, "the precise mechanism by which tea might help prevent cancer has not been established," according to the National Cancer Institute.
Inflammation
White tea reduced inflammation in research performed in an August 2009 study by the School of Life Sciences at Kingston University. Researchers say that inflammation can lead to some types of cancer, so this could be another way that white tea might prevent cancer. Small amounts of white tea prevented inflammation better than many other herbal treatments in the study.
Research
Research conducted by the Linus Pauling Institute in 2000 found that white tea blocked mutagenicity, which is caused by DNA damage and can lead to cancer, better than green tea. The white tea also contained more of some polyphenols than green tea. The rats tested in the study that were given white tea also had fewer pre-cancerous colon lesions than those that were only given caffeine. The researchers say that more research is needed on this subject and warn that white tea might not have the same effects on humans that it showed on rats.
References
- National Cancer Institute: Tea and Cancer Prevention -- Strengths and Limits of the Evidence
- Linus Pauling Institute: Tea
- Kingston University London; White Tea Could Keep You Healthy and Looking Young; Alison Barbuti; Oct. 8, 2009
- Linus Pauling Institute; Is White Tea Better Than Other Teas as a Potential Anticarcinogen?; June 2000
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