Could Tea REALLY be 10,000 Medicines…Seriously?...How Could It Be?...
You decide…All you have to do is remember The Big Three in Tea…
Some people begin drinking tea because somewhere along the way they heard about the health benefits of tea. Maybe they read something, saw an article or ad online or on TV…possibly a friend or colleague convinced them that there was something to the tea thing.
Others drink tea well, because they just like it and still others drink tea because that’s what their family does and has done for generations.
Even if all of us tea drinkers somehow get the idea that tea is good for us, most don’t really have a clue as to just how it is good for us and just how good.
One could make a career of understanding the intricacies of this topic and read or research countless books and studies on the subject but let me boil it down for you…remember the Big Three in Tea.
Of the long list of components in tea, there are three that most often associated with the wellbeing aspects of tea. These ingredients are responsible to a great extent for both the psychological and physiological positive impact tea has on our natural body systems.
In an overview report on the health benefits of tea issued by the Tea Council of the USA in the introduction, it’s stated:
Throughout History, tea has been believed to help “purify the body and preserve the mind”. Over the past several decades, thousands of published studies in leading medical journals have provided the proof to support tea’s ancient health claims…hummm
Back to the concept of tea being 10,000 medicines as claimed by the ancient health claims…could it be?
You see, there are hundreds if not thousands of bioactive compounds in tea including amino acids, caffeine, lignins, proteins, xanthines and flavonoids. Tea flavonoids are bioactive components that have specific cellular targets that are related to the cardiovascular, chemopreventive, metabolic, neuroprotective and other health benefits…imagine that.
Simply taking a closer look at the attributes of The Big Three in Tea allows us to better understand just how they support the 10,000 Medicines theory. In addition to the consumption pleasure great teas bring to us…here is why we love tea and can’t be without it.
EGCG, the most powerful & abundant antioxidant in Camellia sinensis (the tea plant)…it is:
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Anti-microbial
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Anti-oxidant
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Anti-allergic
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Anti-Cardiovascular
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Anti-inflammatory
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Neuro-protective
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Anti-carcinogenic
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Anti-diabetic
Makes you want tea doesn’t it? Then there is the Theanine (l-Theanine)…
Theanine, the little-known amino acid that gives us the Umami taste and so much more:
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Anxiety & Stress Relief/Reduction
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Increased Focus & Concentration
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Improved Immunity
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Tumor & Cancer Treatment
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Blood Pressure Control
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Increases Brain Relaxing through increased neurotransmitter GABA production
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Improved Sleep Quality
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Sinusitis Relief
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Primes Gama-Delta T Cells for Bacteria and Infection Defense
But there is more…the third of The Big Three…Antigens.
Antigens, help us build resistance preparing us to resist bacterial invasion:
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Help fight Cold & Flu
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Prepares us for bacterial invasion
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Build’s our bodies defenses
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Works like a vaccine
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Think of as Antibody Generators
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Create faster response to body invasions
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Supports Acquired Immunity