Walking around on a college campus,
one will see lots of people drinking caffeinated drinks. My drink of choice is
normally tea, mostly because I like the light caffeine and the taste. However,
I recently discovered some new research that tea can provide some health
benefits in addition to keeping us college students awake.
Tea has been around for centuries.
In ancient times, people used tea remedies for all types of sicknesses. More
recently, we have conducted experiments to determine the health benefits of
tea. To name a few that have been tested, tea is antioxidative,
anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive,
neuroprotective, and cholesterol lowering (Hayat 2015)[i]. This
is extremely relevant to physiology and disease prevention. Tea helps protect
against cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease (CVD), arthritis, diabetes,
genital warts, and obesity (Hayat 2015).
Additionally, tea can cause
epigenetic changes in women (Uppsala 2017). Epigenetic change refers to when
proteins turn genes on or off. The main genes affected by tea are involved in
cancer suppression and estrogen metabolism (Uppsala 2017). These changes were
not linked to coffee drinkers or men (Uppsala 2017).
Tea contains bioactive polyphenols,
which are complex polyphenol polymers that are hard to make and must come from
our diet (Seeram 2006)[ii]. Some supplements are available, but the
absorption and metabolism of the compound is limited since it is lab
synthesized and mechanisms of breakdown are not well understood (Seeram 2006). These bioactive polyphenols are the chemicals
that elicit the positive health benefits through a series of chemical reactions
(Seeram 2006).
In conclusion, drink your tea
people! It’s good for you! If you need a boost during the day, why not go for
something that has some health benefits too.
References:
Uppsala Universitet. (2017, May 31). Tea consumption leads to
epigenetic changes
in women. ScienceDaily.
Retrieved November 13, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170531092458.htm
Hayat, Khizar, Hira Iqbal, Uzma Malik,
Uzma Bilal, and Sobia Mushtaq. “Tea and Its Consumption: Benefits and Risks.” Critical
Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 55, no. 7 (June 7, 2015): 939–54.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2012.678949.
Seeram,
Navindra P. “Bioactive Polyphenols from Foods and Dietary Supplements:
Challenges and Opportunities.” In Herbs: Challenges in Chemistry and Biology,
925:25–38. ACS Symposium Series 925. American Chemical Society, 2006.
https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-2006-0925.ch003.
[ii] Seeram, “Bioactive Polyphenols from Foods
and Dietary Supplements: Challenges and Opportunities.”
I think this is awesome (because I like tea as well, especially when I am sick), but it also makes me wonder about a few things. I wonder what aspect of tea causes those epigenetic effects in women only and not in men? I also know that certain teas are considered “healthier” than others, such as green tea being healthier that black tea due to black tea containing more caffeine. I found a contradicting article to your information, regarding how more tea consumption causes an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women compared to those who did not drink tea. The study was done by Georgetown University, but the researchers did not know why tea was related to arthritis. I think more research is needed, especially since research is contradicting each other on this aspect. However, I still plan on drinking tea because it seems the benefits outweigh the risks. Thanks for the information, Bri!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.smh.com.au/world/it-was-good-but-now-teas-bad-for-you-says-new-study-20100618-ylap.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29794514
This post was super interesting! With tea being one of the most common drinks consumed worldwide, I think that this might have widespread effects. However, I would like to push back on these claims a little. While tea does have proven clinical benefits (antioxidative and anti-inflammatory), teas are not really regulated by the FDA. This can potentially allow for manufactures to add different fillers and additives to teas without a lot of push back from the FDA. Recently, there has been concerns about the presence of heavy metals present in certain teas, which can cause adverse health effects. While the risks are miniscule, I think that this point is something to definetly keep in mind.
ReplyDeleteSource: Zhang, J., Yang, R., Chen, R., Peng, Y., Wen, X., & Gao, L. (2018). Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Tea Leaves and Potential Health Risk Assessment: A Case Study from Puan County, Guizhou Province, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(1), 133. doi:10.3390/ijerph15010133