What
is in Tea?
The three primary
components of brewed tea (also called the "liquor") are:
1. Essential Oils - these provide tea's delicious aromas and flavors.
2. Polyphenols - these provide the "briskness" or astringency in the
mouth and are the components that also carry most of the health benefits
of tea.
3. Caffeine - found naturally in coffee, chocolate, tea and Yerba Mate,
caffeine provides tea's natural energy boost. The strongest tea contains
about 1/3 the amount of caffeine found in the same serving of coffee.
Tea contains
flavonoids, compounds with antioxidant properties. Antioxidants work to
neutralize free radicals that may damage the body and contribute to
chronic diseases. White and green teas (the least processed) contain the
most antioxidant properties, followed by Oolong and then Black teas.
The naturally occurring chemical compounds in tea, called 'polyphenols,'
are powerful antioxidants.
The primary polyphenols found in
tea are called 'catechins' which account for 30 to 40 percent of dry tea
weight. Other polyphenols found in tea include flavanols, flavanol
glycosides, flavandiols, phenolic acids, and depsides. Polyphenols act
as 'bodyguards', preventing damage caused by free radicals (damaging
forms of oxygen) by combining chemically with the free radicals.
Polyphenols give tea its characteristic astringent flavor. In the past,
these polyphenols have been mistakenly called 'tannins.' Polyphenols are
chemically similar to tannins, however tannins are not present in tea.
Green tea has a high
content of vitamins and minerals. It contains ascorbic acid
(vitamin C) in amounts comparable to a lemon. Green tea also contains
several B vitamins which are water soluble and quickly released into a
cup of tea. Five cups of green tea a day will provide 5-10% of the daily
requirement of riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, and pantothenic acid.
The same five cups of green tea
also provide approximately 5% of the daily requirement of magnesium, 25%
of potassium, and 45% of the requirement for manganese. Green tea is
also high in fluoride. A cup of green tea provides approximately 0.1 mg
of fluoride, which is higher than in fluorinated water.
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