Which Drink Has More Antioxidants? Black Tea Or Green Tea?

By Max Waters


Did you know that green and black tea originate from the same plant? Though the colors differ, they both come from a plant called camellia sinensis. Teas are identified as one of the most healthy drinks and both black and green teas are beneficial to health. How are they similar and more significantly which one possesses more health benefits compared to other?

Considering that tea is a beverage, we are going to assess the two from a taste perspective. Which one is tastier is an individual choice; however green tea offers more of a bitter flavor compared to black tea. Black tea has a richer flavor compared to green tea. For these reasons, a lot of first time drinkers have a preference for black tea above green tea. Even so realizing that tea is a healthy drink, flavor may not be the top priority.

Even prior to tasting the drink, color separates the two teas. The colors are different due to the tea processing. Both teas undergo similar processing aside from the oxidation process. Green tea's initial drying operation is a brief process of steaming or panning which minimizes oxidation. On the contrary, black tea goes through a complete oxidation process which uses up to 3 hours. This procedure is the main reason why the color is darker and also flavor is richer. Precisely what does that suggest in terms of health improvements?

The leaves of camellia sinensis are naturally green similar to any other plant. When it relates to food, one that is more processed typically loses more of its natural active ingredients. The same exact logic also applies to tea leaf. Conserving the color green means it is going to have more of the natural element, catechin.

Catechins are the active compound found in the tea leaves. They are responsible for amazing benefits such as heart disease, weight loss, bad cholesterol and cancer prevention. Scientific tests have confirmed that a full cup of green tea contains eight times more catechins compared to black tea. In theory, you would need to intake eight more glasses of black tea than green tea to get the same amount of positive effects.

You can find results of numerous researches on the health benefits associated with black tea. Many experiments have been successful against diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This shows the healing ability of camellia sinensis. Regardless of what type of process it applies, the leaves continue to be helpful to human body. However it makes sense to intake the tea which contains more of the active ingredient. So why not start including green tea to your diet.




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