Tea is known as a healthy beverage, it has numerous benefits for both body and mind. It has been centuries since tea was discovered but all of the studies surrounding the beverage still holds true.
Tea benefits
According to the UK's Tea Advisory Panel, there are more than 100 million cups of tea being consumed every day. Tea remains a part of the nation's culture, as each household in the UK takes some time off in the afternoon to drink tea and eat biscuits and pastries.
Tea is also very popular in Asian countries like China and Japan, and it is slowly making its way around the world as more flavors and variants are being introduced in the market. Because of this, the United Nations designated May 21 as "International Tea Day."
In the United States, tea is slowly becoming popular, despite being known as a coffee-dominated country. In 2007, the United Nations released data that people consume 14 ounces a year now in America, compared to 12.7 ounces that were consumed years before. Americans are slowly ditching soda, fruit drinks, and other carbonated beverages as people are now becoming health conscious.
Scientists are also studying how tea can change a person's mood and cognition. They are investigating whether it is relaxing or if it has alerting effects, and if the results depend on how you prepare your brew, choose your cup or how you drink your tea. Now that people are in quarantine and are forced to listen to dreadful news about the pandemic every day, the benefits of tea on people's mental health are much needed.
Brain boost
According to Stefan Borgwardt, the chair, and director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Lubeck, Germany, drinking green tea can improve brain function in healthy people.
In 2014, Borgwardt did a study and gave green tea extracts equivalent to one or two cups of green tea to 12 healthy volunteers and imaged their brains to analyze changes in connectivity inside certain brain regions.
In 2017, a review that involved more than 100 studies found that green tea can impact the brain in threeway. First, it can influence the psychopathological symptoms, which means it can reduce anxiety. Second, it can help with memory and attention, and third, it can improve brain function and memory.
Studies also suggest that tea could help improve the symptoms of dementia, depression, and Down's syndrome. In 2018, South Korea did a study and found that those who drink green tea were 21% less likely to develop depression versus those who don't drink tea at all.
Physical health
Aside from reducing anxiety and preventing depression, which are the two mental health issues that people are experiencing during the pandemic, it is said that tea also has benefits for physical health. Tea can help you live a longer life, it can lower your blood pressure and it can also help you lose weight.
However, despite all the benefits that a person can get from drinking tea, experts say that it is still difficult for Americans to drink it. In the UK, which is a country with the highest number of tea drinkers, the beverage is a typical drink for the working-class and is part of their daily consumption.
In the US, tea is linked with social status. Throughout US history, only those who are in the upper class drink tea and it is often given as a gift to wealthy people. Experts are now trying to remove the association of the beverage to socioeconomic backgrounds so that more people can enjoy the drink and improve their health, especially during the pandemic.
