WHITE TEA & GREEN TEA APPEAR TO BE EFFECTIVE ANTIOXIDANTS

Heart health is an ever rising concern in the United States. Each year over 1.1 million Americans suffer heart attacks, and half a million Americans are diagnosed with heart failure. This is a serious problem that more and more Americans are monitoring. Studies repeatedly show that diet is a large factor in one’s heart health. In the past years more and more research is being conducted on the health benefits of tea; most specifically green tea. The most significant of health benefits that are found in tea are directly related to heart health.

Blood Vessel/Endothelium Function
Recent research has shown that tea may help with blood vessel and endothelial function. The endothelium is a layer of flat cells that line the closed internal spaces of the blood vessels and the heart. Blood vessel and endothelial function allow for proper blood flow throughout the body and indicate how healthy the heart is. Impaired blood vessel functioning can lead to serious diseases such as coronary heart disease. The flavonoids in tea help improve functioning of the blood vessel lining, or the endothelium by allowing the blood vessels to relax, thus having an anti-clotting effect.

Research shows that blood vessel function improved in individuals that drank four cups of black tea every day. Because all types of tea come from the same plant (camellia sinensis) it is likely that all types of tea could have a similar impact on blood vessel function because of the flavonoids found in tea.

Cholesterol
Tea may also help your heart in lowering cholesterol. Some research shows that tea drinkers?overall cholesterol tends to be lower than a non-tea drinkers? Tea drinkers LDL or "bad" cholesterol is on average 10% lower than non-tea drinkers, without lowering the HDL or “good?cholesterol levels. According to USDA research, individuals who drank 5 cups of black tea per day for three weeks were able to reduce their cholesterol by 6.5%, and more specifically, lower their LDL cholesterol by 11.1%. This can health benefit can also be attributed to the flavonoids in tea. In this instance, the flavonoids may be able to prevent LDL cholesterol from being oxidized. Oxidized LDL can lead to the development of artherosclerosis. By decreasing this LDL cholesterol, the risk of suffering a heart attack decreases.

Heart Attack
Drinking tea may help reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack. Because tea is associated with lowered LDL cholesterol and increased blood vessel functioning, the risk factors that could cause a heart attack are in turn decreased. One research study found that participants who consumed at least three cups of tea per day were 11% less likely to suffer a heart attack than non-tea drinkers. Another study showed that individuals that consumed between two and four cups of tea per day had a significantly lower fatality risk after suffering a heart attack. A Harvard University study demonstrated that moderate black tea drinkers (one or more cups a day the year prior to a heart attack) had a 44% lower risk of heart attack when compared to non-tea drinkers. Those who reported being heavy tea drinkers had a 44% lower death rate than non-tea drinkers in the three and a half years following their heart attacks. Moderate tea drinkers had a 28% lower rate of dying when compared with non-tea drinkers.

Cardiovascular Disease
The antioxidants in tea (specifically the flavonoids) may be able to help decrease the lipid oxidation in the body. This is good because oxidation of LDL can lead to the development of artherosclorosis. Artherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque that causes many cardiovascular diseases. The antioxidants in tea decrease the oxidation, therefore contributing to a healthy heart. A recent study showed that individuals who consumed between one and two cups of black tea per day were able to cut their risk of developing cardiovascular disease in half.

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