Make Tea Your "Cup of Tea"

Unfortunately, this past week I was hit with a case of the cold that has been running around lately, spreading its less than pleasant sniffles and sneezes to noses everywhere.  I found myself sipping on tea (or so I thought), trying to reap its many supposed benefits and cure myself of the common cold.  Twelve cups of "tea" later, I decided to do some research on these health claims and see what the real deal with tea is.  I found some interesting facts that are definitely worth sharing:

• Turns out that there are only 4 types of tea: green, black, white, and oolong.  Herbal "Teas" are not actually tea because they are made from a different plant (i.e. chamomile, peppermint, etc.) and exhibit different nutritional content.  Look for the word TEA in the ingredients list to find out if it is actually tea.
• What differentiates the 4 teas?  It's all in the leaf - black tea is wilted and fully oxidized, green tea is only wilted, oolong tea is sun-dried and slightly oxidized, and white tea is wilted and partially oxidized.
• What are the health claims? All four teas contain polyphenols - antioxidant compounds that may offer protection from various cancers, lower cholesterol, protect from plaque buildup on teeth, and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.  
• Can they help cure a cold?  Scientific evidence is lacking.  Subjective support says that hot tea can be soothing on a sore throat and comforting.
• Try adding citrus - such as fresh squeezed lemon or orange juice - to increase the nutritional content (think Vitamin C!).
• All four teas contain caffeine (the highest content in black) and therefore may interfere with the ability to fall asleep - so be careful when drinking before bedtime.  On a beneficial side, the caffeine is shown to increase mental alertness.
• Beware of bottled or prepared teas - they may contain sugars or other additives.

There have been very few (if any) negative points to be made about tea, so if your interest is piqued, try making it your cup of tea!

Sources: Mayo Clinic, Fox News Health, & WebMD