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The Benefits of Black Tea

The Benefits of Black Tea

Helen Lofton · Monday, December 20th 2010 at 1:29AM · 579 views
Black tea is used for improving mental alertness as well as learning, memory and information processing skills. It is also used for treating headache and low blood pressure; preventing heart disease, including “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis) and heart attack; preventing Parkinson's disease; and reducing the risk of stomach and colon cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer. It is also used for type 2 diabetes, stomach disorders, vomiting, diarrhea, and as a diuretic to increase urine flow. Some people use black tea for preventing tooth decay and kidney stones. In combination with various other products, black tea is used for weight loss.
Likely effective for...
•Mental alertness. Drinking black tea and other caffeinated beverages throughout the day helps to keep people alert, even after extended periods without sleep.
Possibly effective for...
•Preventing dizziness upon standing up (orthostatic hypotension) in older people. Black tea works for this condition because it raises blood pressure.
•Reducing the risk of heart attacks. There is some evidence that people who drink black tea have a lower risk of heart attack. If they do have a heart attack, they are less likely to die if they have been drinking black tea for at least a year.
•Reducing the risk of kidney stones. Women who drink black tea seem to have an 8% lower risk of developing kidney stones.
•Reducing the risk of Parkinson's disease. There is some evidence from large-scale studies that people who drink caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea, and cola have a decreased risk of Parkinson's disease. For men, the effects seem to be dose-related. For example, men consuming a total of 421-2716 mg of caffeine daily seem to have the greatest reduction in risk. However, there seems to be a significant reduction in risk even with consumption of as little as 124-208 mg caffeine per day. In women, the effects do not seem to be dose- related. Moderate consumption of caffeine (about one to four cups black tea daily) seems to provide the most reduction in risk. Drinking black tea also appears to reduce the occurrence of Parkinson's disease among people who smoke.
•Reducing the risk of ovarian cancer. Women who regularly drink tea, including black tea or green tea, appear to have a significantly lower risk of developing ovarian cancer compared to women who never or seldom drink tea.
•Reducing the risk of hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), especially in women.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginf...

About the Author

Helen Lofton Roseville, MI

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Comments (6)

Helen Lofton Monday, December 20th 2010 at 12:20PM

Did you know that a chemical in aspirin was from the willow tree.

Steve Williams Monday, December 20th 2010 at 12:52PM

I believe the Native Americans discovered that use of the willow but I might be wrong. Regarding tea I tend to go overboard, and in my case I've long thought it may be a contributor to my high blood pressure. But I'm addicted to the stuff.

Steve Williams Monday, December 20th 2010 at 12:54PM

And now I am getting edema, which may be a side effect of one of my blood pressure medications.

Helen Lofton Monday, December 20th 2010 at 12:56PM

I went to a Chinese Health Food store in Chicago last year and the clerk acted like I was invading her privacy because I was asking about the use of herbs they had in large containers.

Helen Lofton Monday, December 20th 2010 at 3:26PM

Steve
The black tea is suppose to be good against edema, but you need to know that it won't interfere with other medications. I'm sure that your doctor would prefer that you take his prescription against water retention.

ROBINSON IRMA Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM

It is good that we may be turning more to lean of natural herbs like we use to do (smile)

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