Why Green tea has fantastic effects on human health

Green tea is often ranked as one of the healthiest foods in the world. However, no food alone will bring overall health in a day, a week or a month. This is only when we regularly include the food in our varied and nutritionally balanced diet.

Fortunately, green tea tastes great. When you fall in love with it after a few cups, you will definitely not drink it just for health reasons. However, we are not talking here about cheap bagged “teas” containing more stems than leaves – we are talking about the quality loose ones .

What effects does tea have on the human body and how to prepare a perfect cup of quality tea ?

Green tea has fantastic effects on human health

Green tea contains hundreds and hundreds of various chemical compounds providing a specific taste, aroma or effect on the human body. Most of these substances are found in tea in completely negligible amounts, so apart from the interesting aroma, they do not do much for the body.

The situation is different, however, with  polyphenols led by catechins , which in loose tea can occupy up to 30% of the total weight of the tea. However, we shouldn’t forget about caffeine together with  l-theanine , substances that act synergistically on the body. And it is precisely these compounds that have many beneficial effects on the human organism:

1. Protects the brain from aging . Drinking green tea keeps our head in excellent condition, not only in the short term due to the light stimulation, but also in the long term. With a cup of green tea in hand, no Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease will just happen to us
2. It will help with weight loss . Nowadays, every other food that needs advertising helps with weight loss. However, green tea together with caffeine have a number of studies that confirm these effects . No weight loss from day to day, but a little help in the long-term effort, which is most appreciated from a health point of view by people who are overweight or obese.
3. It will help with learning, thinking and attention . It contains caffeine, which keeps us alert , even if we haven’t had much sleep. But it’s not just about caffeine – the connection with l-theanine , which is also present in tea , also helps maintain attention  .

And we could continue in this way: regular consumption of green tea is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease , a reduced risk of some cancers or protection against insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes .

But drinking tea every day just for the preventive effects on our health? It sounds good, but it probably won’t last long. Fortunately, there are plenty of other reasons to make green tea part of a healthy lifestyle .

How else can green tea improve life?

If we were only interested in the aforementioned effects on our health, we would probably get by with green tea extract in capsules. But in reality, drinking green tea can be significantly more beneficial for us.

1. Help in following the drinking regimen

When we have a problem with maintaining our daily fluid intake, green tea becomes our great helper. We can claim at least 200 ml of liquids for each cup, so if we can manage 5 of them in a day, green tea can easily make up a significant part of our daily drinking regimen . In addition, quality loose green tea can be watered repeatedly , so if we prepare one teaspoon of tea in the teapot in the morning, we can infuse it at least twice before lunch.

2. A reliable caffeine kick

Green tea and caffeine  – and that it can be blessedly there. You’ve probably seen the popular “caffeinated” beverage rankings by caffeine content, where a can of Nocco (180 mg of caffeine) usually wins, while tea takes a backseat. However, if you prepare a strong infusion from loose tea, it is quite possible that the tea will confidently take the first place in this caffeine battle!

According to Karl Valter, it was found by liquid chromatography that loose tea contains an average of 4-4.5% caffeine (the highest value was measured in Assam tea: 6.2%). But even green teas are not far behind, for example, a value of 5.6% was found for the popular Lung Jing green tea. This means roughly the following:

• In one heaping teaspoon of loose tea (approx. 5 g) we can find about 225 mg of caffeine! (at a value of 4.5% caffeine in tea). However, not all the caffeine present is leached into the brew itself. Karel Valter states that up to 15% of tea is practically not released by steeping, other studies talk about the content of about 25-32 mg of caffeine in the brew for every gram of quality green tea used (in our case 5 g of tea), that is about 125-160 mg of caffeine.

And it can be even less: in a study focusing on classic green teas from supermarkets, a caffeine content of about 15 mg per 1 g was found, which corresponds to 75 mg of caffeine in an infusion made from 5 g of tea leaves.

3. A taste experience  

Quality green tea tastes great. And it is precisely the taste pleasure of tea that will make you come back for more cups with more and more joy. Maybe you will even be so captivated by the tea culture that you will start experimenting with other types of tea and maybe even try some traditional Chinese or Japanese tea preparation ritual in a tea room. In short, quality tea is an experience that no capsule with tea extract can provide.

How to choose tea just for us and how to prepare it correctly

Today, you can find great green teas in almost every store:

• Gunpowder = ideal Chinese green tea for undemanding consumers . The leaves packed into small balls resembling raisins give rise to a full flavor with a leafy aroma.
• Sencha = excellent Japanese tea for discerning drinkers . Sencha leaves resemble long, deep green colored needles and give rise to a very aromatic infusion with a characteristic “grassy” character.
• Matcha = Japanese tea specialty for those who like to try something new . Matcha is made by grinding high-quality Japanese tea (Gyokuro) into powder, which is then whisked in hot water. This creates a thick koicha infusion that stands out for its intense bitterness.

A few more tips on which teas to focus on when choosing

Tea is not only black and green, there is also white, yellow or dark (pu‑erh). What’s more, each of these types comes in tens to hundreds of different species. Knowing about teas is therefore not entirely easy, which is why we offer a few more tips for interesting teas that are definitely worth trying:

• Indian teas from fresh harvests are very aromatic types that will surprise you with their sparkle and full character. We recommend fresh spring harvests (labeled FF = First Flush) from Darjeeling gardens or from Nepal.
• Chinese and Taiwanese semi-green teas are very popular and often used for the traditional Chinese tea ritual Gong Fu Cha. Among the most popular types are the world-famous Tie Guan Yin tea or the large-leaf teas known as Dan Cong. And a special tip: Dong Fang Mei Ren aka Oriental Beauty – a tea with a catchy scent that the singer Edith Piaf literally fell in love with.
• Traditional Chinese white teas belong to high-quality teas, which are usually made only from top tea leaves or buds (tips). Popular species include, for example, Bai Mu Dan or Bai Hao Yin Zhen.

How to properly prepare tea?

1. For a completely undemanding and simple preparation, a teapot with a volume of approx. 200-300 ml will do, into which you pour about 3-6 g of tea (one small teaspoon).
2. Pour hot water over the tea at a temperature of approx. 70-80 °C for Sencha or 90 °C for Gunpowder tea. Leave the leaves to infuse for about 2 minutes.
3. You can pour the tea several times, according to your taste . The first two infusions tend to be full of flavor and distinctive, the others are starting to gradually weaken.

The preparation of Matcha tea is somewhat different. A small teaspoon is poured into a tea bowl, 150 ml of water at a temperature of about 70 °C is poured and  whisked with a special bamboo tool called a chasen. Alternatively, of course, another whisking tool can be used, but the temperature and volume of water remain more or less the same.

What to take from it?

Green tea is one of the healthiest foods that stands out for its content of polyphenols known as catechins . Thanks to them, caffeine and l-theanine, it has many beneficial effects on the body, serves as a prevention against a number of diseases and helps with learning, concentration and maintaining attention.

Although not much is known about it, green tea can be rich in caffeine content  – from one teaspoon of green tea (5 g), we get about 125-160 mg of caffeine in infusions, which is the equivalent of about 2 cans of energy drink like Red Bull or one half-full pack Nocco energy drink. Caffeine from tea is also released into the blood more slowly than from coffee, and therefore the effects are usually not as pronounced, but they last significantly longer.

The tea culture is extremely varied and contains many hundreds of different types of tea. However, whichever of them you choose, prefer loose types over those in bags, which usually have a lower quality.