Why Drinking Tea Is Good for Your Health When You are Past 50

Is drinking tea good for your health? YES! That’s the answer given by many researchers who have carried out studies on the subject. The health benefits identified so far, show that seniors are to gain more than the others. If you thought a cuppa is a cuppa, no matter what color it is, think again! Green tea has been proven to be more beneficial than other types like black tea and white tea. Having three or four cups a day can help us, seniors, to keep healthy and live longer. Let us see what the experts have found about effects of tea drinking.

Though the benefits of tea drinking were known from ancient times, several recent studies have managed to identify some of these chemicals that bring out the beneficial effects on your health. Tea leaves contain more than 750 chemicals and many of them can affect human health positively. Among the compounds that are relevant for health and long life are antioxidants, flavonols, flavonoids, polyphenols, and catechins. So, if you need some reasons to plugin that kettle for a cup of hot tea, here they are.

Top 10 Health Benefits of Drinking Tea

Reduce the risk of cancer – Powerful antioxidants like catechins and flavonoids in tea boosts the immune system and lowers the risk of cancer. A vitamin is known as biotin also can boost up the immune system. Studies have shown that drinking green tea lowers the risk of many types of cancers including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer.
Prevent osteoporosis – Vitamin D contained in tea helps to build stronger bones and prevent or delay the onset of osteoporosis.
Prevents and controls diabetes – Chemicals known as polyphenols in tea is known to lower insulin resistance and help prevent diabetes and lowers the blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.
Prevent strokes and heart attacks – EGCg, another powerful antioxidant in green tea, can help the recovery of heart cells and minimizes cell death after a heart attack or stroke. Tea improves the functioning of blood vessels by reducing cholesterol deposit on artery walls, and the prevention of inflammation of arteries.
Lowers the blood pressure – drinking tea is good for those with hypertension because tea helps bring down blood pressure.
Reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease – EGCg may also help to boost memory and prevent developing Alzheimer’s disease by decreasing the production of a protein called beta-amyloid, which can form into insoluble plaque and degrade nerve cells in the brain.
Cleanse your intestines – Drinking tea can prevent gastric ulcers. Tannins in tea help to calm the stomach and cleanse the intestinal tract.
Lowering body fat – Catechins in tea can reduce the absorption of dietary fat. They help “burning” of fat too by activating the enzymes in the body that metabolize stored fat.
Weight loss – Limited studies have shown that drinking green tea reduces weight and “bad cholesterol” (LDL)
Calmness in the mind – Chemical, L-theanine in tea can create a calm but alert and focused mental state similar to a mental state that is achieved by meditating.

Wow! Doesn’t that sound like having a full-time health specialist attending to you on preventative mode?

Know Your Tea Bags – they Come in Different Varieties

Make note that there is a wide variety of tea or tea substitutes. The tea comes from the leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis commonly known as tea, though many other herbs and spices are used to make “herbal” teas. Herbal teas are prepared in the same way as tea is prepared, by pouring boiling water to the leaves or the spice. Green tea is more beneficial for health than black tea. In different cultures, tea is blended with other additives like sugar, milk, butter, ginger, lemon, and other spices. Addition of different spices and herbs may give additional health benefits, but the addition of milk may reduce the cholesterol-lowering properties of tea. Adding peppermint to tea reduces hot flashes while ginger can aid digestion.

Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world after water. With the type of health benefits of tea, drinking four or five cups a day will give us as seniors, a healthier and longer life, with a calm and alert state of mind and improve the memory and cognitive functions. So go ahead and put the kettle on now and brew yourself a nice hot cuppa.

If you are living in one of the many thousands of superb Active Adult Living communities around the USA, you will surely have a great time, sipping a cuppa with your good friends and neighbors and catching up on good time. Most of the community clubhouses will have afternoon tea with lots of good chatter and laughter on a daily basis and certainly over the weekends. To find your perfect senior community, visit ActiveAdultLiving.com, the national directory senior and 55+ communities around USA and Canada