It's surprising how often we don't know what we're eating and drinking. Take tea, for instance. Do you know the difference between black tea and green tea? Do you know what oolong tea is?
All three teas are created from the same plant (Camellia sinensis). Teas differ only in how they're made.
Green tea is produced from fresh tea leaves that haven't been oxidized. Oxidation is a natural process that exposes tea leaves to air. The process determines tea's color, taste and caffeine content. Black tea is made by crushing leaves to enhance oxidation. Oolong tea is made by wilting leaves in the sun and slightly bruising them to create partial oxidation.
All three teas have small amounts of caffeine. Black tea has the most (47mg/8oz); green tea the least (29mg); and oolong tea somewhere in between (38mg). When you compare these numbers to the caffeine in coffee (96mg/8oz), you see they all have much less caffeine. Coffee has exactly twice the amount of caffeine as black tea and three times the amount of green tea.
All three teas have major health benefits. They ward off heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and brain degeneration. Many studies have conclusively documented these benefits to which generations of Japanese tea-drinkers will attest.
Care for a spot of tea? How do you take it?
No comments:
Post a Comment