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Tea and Health

At teapigs we’re in the "drink it because it tastes good camp", not the, "drink it because it does you good camp", for that way can lead to such unpleasantness as wheatgrass. Never again.

So we’ve always felt a little smug knowing that tea has such a great reputation in the health stakes.

Antioxidants
Despite the "anti" bit in their names, these are the good guys who go around fighting the free radicals that float around in our blood causing general mayhem such as cancers and heart disease.

It’s been proved that having 3 cups of tea a day has approximately the same antioxidant power as six apples.

The main type of antioxidant in tea is known as flavonoids, these have been the subject of loads of research recently about how good they are. We're not scientists but if you want to know a lot more detail you can find a lot of it on the excellent UK Tea Council website

Hydration
Anyone who has made so much as a fleeting  glance at the health pages of a magazine will know that we’re meant to drink as much as 2 litres of water a day. Everyday. Well do you know what makes up about 99.5% of a cuppa? Exactly. Which is why both the Foods Standards Agency and the British Dietetic Association recommend tea help make up your 2 litres. And tea tastes so much better than water, doesn’t it?

Tea and teeth
Now, I’m not a dentist, but apparently drinking tea (without sugar, naturally) has a number of beneficial effects in preventing tooth decay. Many of the natural properties of tea, especially fluoride, which has been absorbed from the soil by the tea plant, contribute towards oral hygiene and a reduction in dental erosion.

And if you’re not a dentist either, then that simply means, it helps prevent stinky breath and those who are dentists from shoving whirling drills into your mouth while grinning manically.

The C word
We’ve heard it all before. So frankly we’re no longer shocked when people tell us that they’re cutting back on tea because of the caffeine.

Yes some people can be intolerant to caffeine but the truth is for the vast majority of us, a moderate intake of caffeine isn’t going to harm us.

So, what is a moderate amount?

That would be 300mg per day, the equivalent of 6 cups of tea then.