Benefits Of Black And Pekoe Teas

If you drink black and pekoe tea, you may unknowingly be helping your body ward off disease. There are three main types of fermented tea: green tea, oolong tea and black tea. The leaves of all three come from the Camellia sinensis plant. Flavor and chemical differences materialize during processing. Black tea leaves ferment for a longer period of time. Pekoe tea is a variety of black tea and refers to leaf size, not the flavor, although sometimes tea makers do add flavoring to pekoe tea.

Mental Alertness

The caffeine content of black tea measures 2 to 4 percent. That's enough to improve your mental agility, enhance your learning skills and boost your memory. Black and pekoe tea may also provide you with some protection against Parkinson's disease, a brain disorder that affects how your nervous system functions. According to the National Institutes of Health, a man who consumes 421 to 2,716 mg of caffeine each day greatly reduces his risk of developing Parkinson's. The benefit to women is not dose-dependent.

Lipid Mobilization

Drinking black tea can help your body burn fat more effectively. In the January 2004 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," Kevin Acheson, a researcher with the Nestle Research Centre in Switzerland, writes that caffeine causes fatty acid to move to your muscles, to be utilized as an energy source. The transfer rate doubles after ingesting caffeine. Although exercising provides the same benefit at an even greater rate, drinking black tea provides energy expenditure while you are resting.

Heart Disease

Consuming black tea may reduce your risk of heart disease. There are two types of cholesterol: low density lipoprotein, called "bad" or LDL, and high density lipoprotein, referred to as HDL. Having a high LDL level can increase your risk for developing heart disease. In the October 2003 issue of the "Journal of Nutrition," Michael J. Davies writes that in one study, participants who drank five, 180 mL servings of black tea each day for three weeks reduced their LDL levels by 11.1 percent. At the beginning of the study, all participants had elevated blood cholesterol levels but were otherwise healthy.

Antioxidants

As a result of the fermentation process, black tea has low levels of catechin, but high levels of thearubigin and theaflavin. All three chemicals are types of antioxidants that occur naturally in plants. Antioxidants help shield your cells from the aging process and damage from environmental factors, such as pollution. Antioxidants may also provide you with some protection against cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.