Go into your kitchen and brew yourself a hot, delicious cup of black tea. As you do so, you're brewing up a constellation of health benefits that might surprise you. Black tea is the cousin of green tea, meaning it contains several of the same health benefits, such as antioxidants, inhibiting several forms of cancer and killing viruses.
Antioxidants
While green tea contains a high number of health effects, black tea isn't far behind. Black tea is further fermented green tea leaves that are dried in the manufacturing process. Antioxidants slow down the process of aging for tea drinkers.
One of the most important antioxidants in black tea is theaflavin, which scavenge abnormal cellular bodies, ridding the body of these abnormal cells before they mutate and become cancerous. Theaflavins are also responsible for inhibiting oxidation, particularly of LDL cholesterol.
Beneficial Cardiovascular Effects
Drinkers who enjoy black tea regularly may benefit, especially if they already have cardiovascular disease. Because the theaflavins stop oxidation of LDL cholesterol, this effect helps to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Drinking black tea may help heart attack patients by increasing their rate of survival following a heart attack.
Black tea improves the ability of the blood vessels in the body to relax and expand, thus helping consumers maintain a healthier blood pressure. Black tea also contains a molecule called a catechin, which produces nitric oxide, helping the blood vessels in the body to dilate.
Inhibits Cancer Growth
Chemicals found in black tea have been tied to a decreased risk of breast, stomach and colon cancer; however, this connection has not been definitively proven. Researchers at Rutgers University have found that a compound in black tea---TF-2---forces colorectal cancer cells to commit suicide. Normal cells were not affected in this way.
Deactivates Viruses
New research conducted at Pace University by Milton Schiffenbauer finds that drinking black tea can help to neutralize the virus that causes herpes. Researchers have known that black tea can render the germs that cause diarrhea, skin infections, pneumonia, cystitis and skin infections.
Tea drinkers can kill viruses lurking in their mouths.
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