Tea Magic

There are many benefits a to drinking the different kinds of real tea; the Chinese have been drinking green and white teas for centuries to help relieve fatigue and live a long healthy life, an ancient Chinese saying goes: " Better to be deprived of food for three days, than of tea for one". Drinking tea is also a big cultural pastime in India, where it is not just a tradition but actually helps lower body temperature and makes you more comfortable in the sweltering heat.

Europeans, especially the British, drink mostly black tea; all three teas, in fact, come from the same plant, camellia sinensis. The only difference between the three teas lies in the way they are harvested and prepared; the black tea is made from leaves that have been fomented in a humid room; green tea is made from leaves that have been left to dry in the sun and white tea is made by plucking the leaves before they are fully opened when the buds are still covered in fine white hair, which gives the tea a silvery-white appearance.

Both the green and the white teas are very powerful antioxidants; for this reason they have of late become a very sought after ingredient in the health and beauty world.

All three teas though are brimming with substances called polyphenols, extremely potent antioxidants that keep skin looking young and healthy by shielding it from harmful pollutants in the air and ultra violet rays from the sun, a known cause of premature aging for the skin. Possibly even better than that though, polyphenols also interfere with the work of free radicals in the body, which are thought to increase the risk of cancer by damaging cells.

Vitamins E and C are also known to protect our bodies but US researchers have discovered that the polyphenols in green tea are even more powerful then the vitamins when protecting us. The buds of the camellia sinensis tree have been used for their therapeutic properties for thousands of years in China; the discovery of green tea is said to have taken place when Emperor Shen-Nung was sitting with a vessel of freshly boiled water and one of the leaves floated down from it’s tree and landed in the liquid. It is, at least in part, the reason that tea in China has been held in such high regard for so long; such a serendipitous discovery, falling from the sky as it did, could easily be considered a gift from heaven.

The white variety is the true ‘magic tea’ in China though, used to strengthen the will, nurture the soul and revive the spirit; it is also thought by many to be a vital ingredient for the elixir of eternal life. Recent scientific discoveries have shown that the white tea has even more of the cancer-thwarting anti-oxidants than its green sidekick.

Cosmetic companies have realised that the dynamic duo’s extracts provide amazing results when applied to the skin, giving a lasting firmness and a younger looking appearance. They now appear in all kinds of products including; soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, body lotions, moisturizers, and even give your spirits an uplifting boost when applied as fragrance or cologne. Or perhaps you would simply prefer to stick with tradition, and drink them?