More about tea :-)

TEA & HEALTH 

An Overview of Research on the 

Potential Health Benefits of Tea

If you ever wanted to know about tea and the health benefits, here is the link you might like to check out.

Here is the Introduction to the full article:

Introduction

Tea is an ancient beverage steeped in history and romance and 

loved by many. In fact, tea is the most commonly consumed 

beverage in the world after water. There are various legends about 

how tea was discovered, but the most famous is the story of Shen 

Nung, the ancient Emperor of China, who, in 2737 BC, was 

boiling his drinking water when leaves from a nearby tea bush tree 

blew into the cauldron. After drinking the brew, the emperor was 

pleasantly surprised by its flavor and restorative properties. Thus, 

tea was born. It quickly became the favorite beverage in China 

and spread to Europe and the Americas. 

All tea is derived from one plant, Camellia sinensis. Green Tea is 

produced by heating the leaves shortly after harvesting through 

a process of steaming or pan-firing to prevent oxidation from 

occurring, and then rolling and drying the leaves. Black and 

Oolong Tea undergo full or partial oxidation, which makes the 

leaves–and subsequent brew—darker in color.

Throughout history, tea has been believed to help “purify the body” 

and “preserve the mind.” Over the past several decades, thousands 

of published studies in leading medical journals have provided the 

proof to support tea’s ancient health claims.