White tea has a delicate flavor that is more subtle than the flavor of green or black tea. Some commercial brews amp up the intensity with sweeteners and added flavorings. Other so-called white teas are blends, as manufacturers sometimes lump different tea types together. Black, green and white tea all share a common source and potential health benefits.
Basics
White tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinesis, as are green and black tea. Tea makers ferment the camellia leaves to make black tea and dry the leaves to make green tea. Harvesters collect the tender buds of the camellia plant, rather than its mature leaves, to make white tea. Fine white hairs cover the buds, explaining white tea's name. White tea contains caffeine and catechins, a type of flavonoid or nutrient.
Caffeine Effects
Although tea contains less caffeine than a similar serving of coffee, white tea does contain the stimulant. Green tea contains less caffeine than black tea, Exact caffeine levels of white tea as compared with green tea remain undocumented, but the Linus Pauling Institute reasons that because the buds of the camellia plant contain more caffeine that the mature leaves, white tea might contain more caffeine than green tea. Caffeine temporarily raises your blood pressure, which could cause problems if you already have high blood pressure, heart or kidney disease or if you are pregnant.
Protective factors
Some researchers theorize that the flavonoids present in white tea could mitigate caffeine's effect in raising blood pressure, while others discount the possible benefits. In theory, the flavonoids aid the functioning of the endothelium, which plays a role in the production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide aids vasodilation. Relaxed and expanded arteries allow blood to flow more freely and so lower the pressure of blood against them. A study conducted by the University of Western Australia and published in "Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology" finds that flavonoids in tea are likely responsible for any possible protective benefits in tea regarding blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Considerations
Another study conducted by the University of Western Australia and published in the "Journal of Hypertension" seems to discount the premise that the active ingredients in white and green teas mitigate temporary rise in blood pressure caused by caffeine consumption. Researchers found that blood pressure increase was higher when subjects drank tea with caffeine compared with the same amount of caffeine in plain water. If caffeine is a problem for you, steep the white-tea bag in hot water for about 30 seconds, and then brew the tea in fresh water. Much of the caffeine flows out in the preliminary steep.
References
- Oregon State University; Linus Pauling Institute -- Tea; Jane Higdon, Ph.D.; January 2005
- "Fitness"; Tea -- The Untimate Health Drink; February 2007
- "Journal of Hypertension"; Effects on Blood Pressure of Drinking Green and Black Tea; JM Hodgson; April 1999
- "Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology"; Effects of Tea and Tea Flavonoids on Endothelial Function and Blood Pressure; JM Hodgson; September 2006
