Tea (aka Camellia Sinensis), traditional beverage of the Brits has three main varieties, green, black and oolong. The black variety is the stronger flavoured one we drink the most of in European counties and the USA, either with, or without milk. Its full of antioxidants and is said to lower LDL Cholesterol amongst other things The oolong variety we hear little of, is beloved of Japan and China, and said to have obesity controlling properties as well as a generous dose of antioxidants.
But its the green tea variety that I want to cover here. The green varieties, taken without milk, are the traditional favourite of the far eastern countries, Japan, China and the Russia's being avid consumers, although I must say that its now becoming very a fashionable beverage for the health aficionados of the West. And there is a reason for that. When it comes to preventative health care, this is one of natures finest.
The list of health benefits derived from this simple source is quite amazing. I am only going to cover a few of them below, but you can clearly see that its amazing properties are beneficial to animals and humans alike. A lot more research goes into the benefits of each type of tea nowadays but its still in its infancy, so you can expect to hear a lot more about these wonderful substances. But starting right now I am adding more green tea into my daily tea consumption - which I am afraid to say is quite significant, and yes most of it is black (I am a tea caffeine Queen rather than a coffee one!). Writing about the health benefits for animals has reminded me to take a bit more care of myself as well. I would encourage you to do the same, but please do take the time to read my little warning at the end about mixing tea with some medicines or health complaints.
There's one more thing I want to explain before we look at the health benefits because its what makes the biggest distinction between the types and I didn't know what it meant, so you might not either: oxidization. Black tea is fully oxidized before drying, green tea is unoxidized; and Oolongs are somewhere in the middle. To oxidize tea, the leaves are put into troughs or laid out on tables. Oxidization occurs when enzymes within the leaves react with the air and takes from between 30 minutes and two hours at about 26 degrees centigrade. It is during this process that the tealeaf changes from green, through light brown to a deep brown. Once the tea has reached the desired level of oxidation, light for a light liquoring tea and dark brown for a stronger liquoring tea, the leaves are dried (otherwise known as 'firing the tea'). Phew, that is the science bit over.
By the way, about 78% of all the tea we drink is black, 20% is green and Oolong makes up the rest.
So, what about those health-giving properties for animals? I do not think this list is exhaustive, but here are the main conditions it can help.
High cholesterol
Green tea has demonstrated an ability to lower total cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol in both animals and people. Results from one animal study suggest that polyphenols in green tea may block the intestinal absorption of cholesterol and promote its excretion from the body.
Cancer
Recent animal and clinical studies are beginning to suggest that un cours en miracles in green tea known as polyphenols may play an important role in the prevention of cancer. These substances act as powerful antioxidants. Researchers also believe that polyphenols help kill cancerous cells and stop its progression.
Breast cancer
Studies in animals (and believe it or now some animals, like mice, are prone to breast cancer) and test tubes suggest that polyphenols in green tea inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells.
Esophageal cancers
Several animal studies have found that green tea polyphenols inhibit the growth of esophageal (throat) cancer cells. However, results of studies in people have been conflicting, so more work is needed here. However I would say some of the conflict, it was suggested, could be down to the heat at which green tea is consumed. This of course would not affect animals because it would be given cold, so I think it is worth a try.
Diabetes
We know that some animals are very prone to diabetes, especially if we have been over feeding them! Green tea has been used traditionally to control blood sugar in the body. Animal studies suggest that green tea may help prevent the development of type 1 diabetes and slow the progression once it has developed. Therefore, Green tea may help regulate glucose in the body.
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