Antioxidants in tea have received a lot of attention over recent years. Tea is now considered to have many health benefits. However there are many researchers who debate the role of antioxidants in tea. Some researchers argue that antioxidants in tea do not play an important role in slowing the aging process. Other researchers find no significant effect of antioxidants in tea. How can we tell which is right?
Part of the problem is that most people who question the role of antioxidants in tea either do not understand how antioxidant-rich individual antioxidants work or do not appreciate the role that antioxidants play in the body. Further, tea presents such a vast number of variables that drawing inferences and repeating experiments is very difficult. Nowadays it is impossible to make any general claims about any one tea being better or worse than another. The best way to answer the question as to whether antioxidants in tea play a role in slowing down the aging process would be to look at how polyphenols in tea affect the aging process. Polyphenols are present in tea in varying concentrations.
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Polyphenols are known to combat the production of free radicals. They also reduce the risk of developing heart disease, cancer, arthritis and other diseases. In tea polyphenols are found at very low levels.
Antioxidants like vitamin E, catechins, quercetin, gallocatechins and proanthocyanidins are the main polyphenols found in green teas. Theobromine, an antioxidant in black teas is another polyphenol found in tea. Theaflavins and thearubiegens are the antioxidants in black teas that prevent DNA damage. Green tea has moderate amounts of these antioxidants. Studies have shown that drinking black tea and having it as part of your diet can slow down the aging process.
Teas are brimming with antioxidants, but black tea is said to be more potent. Black teas contain more catechins and proanthocyanidins. Drinking four cups of green or black tea per day for two weeks has been shown to increase the length of life by a factor of four. The antioxidants in teas like grapes and red wine are more difficult to metabolize. Antioxidants cannot be ingested through food therefore they need to be taken in supplement form.
A cup of green tea containing polyphenols like wakame is also beneficial. Japanese researchers discovered that drinking green teas containing around 70 mg of polyphenols daily can delay the onset of senegency. Polyphenols are important nutrients needed by all cells in our body. There are many studies that support the idea that antioxidants may prevent certain cancers. Green tea is especially good at fighting prostate cancer because it contains catechins and polyphenols that have been proven to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.