Drinking Tea Daily Can Boost Your Health
Saturday, June 6th, 2009
While what you eat, how much you exercise and your genetics are the largest factors in determining your overall health, there are small changes that you can make as well that could have a big impact if you stick with them. Adding a cup of tea to your daily routine could be one of those things. There are a wide variety of health benefits from drinking tea that require little from you other than brewing up a cup or a pot for breakfast or lunch.
The health benefits of tea have been touted since almost 5000 years ago in Imperial China where the brew was thought to help everything from tumors to low energy. While today we know that tea isn’t good for treating anything that ails you, it can help prevent your risk of some pretty serious illnesses and make you feel better in the process to boot.
Perhaps one of the most talked about benefits of tea is its potential to prevent cancer. Several studies have suggested that both green and white tea may slow or prevent the spread of cancers of the lung, prostate and breasts. Of course, it’s not a cure all and has been shown to have little effect on cancers of the stomach and digestive system.
For those trying to lose weight, tea may be able to help, as there is research that indicates that tea helps to boost the metabolic rate and help your body to burn more of the calories you take in rather than let them turn into weight gain. Tea also helps reduce the levels of stress hormones in the body, reducing your risk of stress-related illnesses and the weight gain that can sometimes come along with prolonged stress.
If you work somewhere where you’re in contact with those with coughs and colds, tea could give you a leg up on preventing catching whatever bug is going around. Some studies suggest that tea helps boost your immune system and makes it better capable of fighting off infections by strengthening your T-cells keeping you healthy throughout the year.
Finally, using tea as a replacement for coffee could help break your addiction to caffeine and give you energy without the sluggish crashes caused by the high levels of caffeine in other beverages. Tea has been shown to boost mental alertness and reduce cognitive impairment so it’s a great substitution for your morning cup of Joe. And even if you get nothing else out of drinking teas, you’ll get a small part of your day to just relax, kick back and enjoy a nice cup of tea.
