Chinese Tea Antioxidants Debate - Green Tea Vs. Black Tea

Chinese Tea Antioxidants Debate
Green Tea vs. Black Tea

Which tea antioxidants are better for you - Green tea or black tea? The answer is surprisingly simple, but many experts still don't get it.

Green tea and black tea both come from the same plant: Camellia sinensis. What's the difference between them? Green tea clearly has more of a healthy image, but why is that?

Is Green tea really better than black tea? Scientists have been trying to answer this question for years.

Green tea and black tea are processed differently: Green tea is dried over a gentle heat, packaged and sold. Black tea is allowed to oxidize.

During the oxidation process, the phytochemicals in the tea change form. Catechins are replaced by theaflavins and thearubigins. However, the phytochemicals in black tea are still good for you and still beneficial.

For example, theaflavin-3,3'-digallate has antioxidant activity that is comparable to that of EGCG.

In a 2001 study led by JB Paquay , black tea even did a better job of defending against particular free radicals than Green tea. Another study, this one led by Sarkar, found that Green tea and black tea had equally powerful protective effects against nitric oxide toxicity.

Does that mean that Green tea and black tea are equally good for you?

If that is the case, why does epidemiological evidence from Asia seem to show that people who drink Green tea get more health benefits than people who drink black tea?

The Answer: Quantity, Not Quality

Green tea and black tea both contain powerful antioxidant compounds.

However, researchers from the Department of Food Science and Technology School of Agricultural Biotechnology at Seoul National University found that Green tea contains more tea antioxidants than black tea does.

Black tea has a relatively small percentage of the powerful antioxidants called theaflavins, only about 2 to 6%.

Green tea, on the other hand, contains 30 to 42% of the powerful antioxidants called catechins.

Thus, the researchers found that black tea contained phenols equivalent to 125 mg of gallic acid, while Green tea contained phenols at a level equivalent to 165 mg gallic acid.

Also, the researchers found that a serving of Green tea had the antioxidative capacity of 436 mg of Vitamin C. A serving of black tea, on the other hand, was only equivalent to 239 mg of Vitamin C.

So, which is better - Green tea or black tea? Both are good for your health, but Green tea is better because it has more tea antioxidants!

Tea is gaining ground over coffee. Tearooms are popping up everywhere. Even Starbucks is bucking up its tea menu. The health benefits of tea are one compelling reason: Green and black teas have 10 times the antioxidants found in fruits and veggies, by one estimate.

For jaded coffee drinkers, tea also offers new sensory frontiers, with its roots in Chinese, Japanese, Indian, African, and South American cultures.

When you sip a chai tea latte, for example, you're enjoying a beverage born in India. "All over India, on almost every street corner, vendors sell chai tea," says Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Council of the U.S.A. "The traditional tea lover won't like chai tea that much," he tells WebMD. "The spices -- ginger, cardamom -- overpower the taste of the black tea. But for American coffee consumers, it's perfect."

In the U.S., elegant tea salons, tearooms, and take-out tea shops are popping up everywhere, says Simrany. "Four years ago, we had one-quarter the tea salons we have today. Even coffee shops are selling more tea."

People find tranquility in tearooms, says Dominique Tanton, manager of the Dushanbe Teahouse, an exquisite traditional Persian teahouse in Boulder, Colo.

"Coffee shops are for the quick caffeine buzz before work or while you're frantically studying for a test," she tells WebMD. "A tearoom is for slowing down, relaxing, admiring the surroundings."

Small Wonder

Studies of humans, animals, and Petri dish experiments show that black and Green tea is highly beneficial to our health, says 82-year-old John Weisburger, PhD, senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention in Valhalla, N.Y. "I've published over 500 papers, including a helluva lot on tea," says Weisburger, who drinks 10 cups daily. "I was the first American researcher to show that tea modifies the metabolism to detoxify harmful chemicals." Green tea, black tea, oolong tea -- they all come from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis; the leaves are simply processed differently, explains Weisburger. Green tea leaves are not fermented; they are withered and steamed. Black tea and oolong tea leaves undergo crushing and fermenting processes.

All teas from the Camellia tea plant are rich in polyphenols, which are antioxidants -- meaning they scavenge for cell-damaging free radicals and detoxify them, says Weisburger.

"Astounding" aptly describes tea's antioxidant power: "Whether it's green or black, tea has about 8 to 10 times the polyphenols found in fruits and vegetables," he says.

While herbal teas may also contain antioxidants, less is known about them, Weisburger adds.

"In my lab, we found that green and black tea had identical amounts of polyphenols," he tells WebMD. "We found that both types of tea blocked DNA damage associated with tobacco and other toxic chemicals. In animal studies, tea-drinking rats have less cancer."

Look at the world's big tea-drinkers, like Japan and China. "They have much less heart disease and don't have certain cancers that we in the western world suffer," says Weisburger.

However, be careful about doctoring-up your tea, says Weisburger. One study found that adding too much milk to can greatly reduce tea's health benefits.

"The scientific evidence about tea is evolving and I think it's compelling," Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy of Tufts University, tells WebMD.

Chinese Tea Antioxidants Debate Green Tea vs. Black Tea

Chinese Tea Antioxidants Debate
Green Tea vs. Black Tea