Call It Chai or Tea – It’s healthy !

By Priyanka Parab

‘Ek garma garam cup Chai hojaye’, is probably the most overused line in the history of India, maybe we are over exaggerating but chances are it just might be! In fact our love affair with Tea isn’t a recent thing; our history with Tea goes back a staggering 172 years, with the first documented export of tea occurring back in 1838!

Since time immemorial, we Indians have been sipping our garam Chai’s as a refreshing drink or mainly as an alternative to its expensive cousin, the Coffee! Often known as the poor man’s Coke, the Chai or ‘tea’ as we English speaking people call it, is actually very healthy and poses numerous health benefits such as reducing the chances of developing heart diseases and Alzheimer's, along with preventing tooth decay and ageing!

Following are some of the reasons why drinking those cups of tea is actually healthy,

• Your Chai contains Anti- Oxidants that can protect you from Cancer!

Tea contains polyphenols, a type of anti-oxidant that is responsible for protecting the body from the free radicals and pollution present in the atmosphere that can lead to cancer! These polyphenols also act as anti-ageing agents for our body i.e. protect our body from the effects of ageing such as wrinkles, memory loss and so on.

• Tea drinkers have a good metabolism rate 

Tea drinkers usually report to having a higher metabolic rate than their non- tea drinking counterparts, especially regular green tea drinkers. Green tea with its very high anti-oxidant content helps increase the body’s resting metabolism rate i.e. the body’s calorie burning rate, when at rest (in generally sitting and standing positions) by at least 3%, meaning you burn up to 60 -70 calories more per day, depending on your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which translates to roughly 3.5 kgs in weight loss without exercise!

To achieve optimum weight loss and increase your body’s metabolic rate, drinking a minimum of 3 cups of green tea along with at least 15 minutes of daily exercise is advised.

• Drinking tea reduces your risk of suffering from a heart attack and stroke

Research has shown that regular tea drinkers have a lesser chance of suffering from life threatening medical conditions such as a heart attack and stroke. Regular consumption of Green Tea or the Black Tea has in the past been proven to prevent the buildup cholesterol in the arteries, thereby reducing the risk of coronary diseases.

Whereas regular consumption of green tea is advised to patients who have suffered from cardiac or stroke related problems, as  whenever one suffers from a heart attack or a stroke. This is because the oxygen to the particular organ is cut off causing massive cell damage to the organ, rendering it almost non- functional, a component known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) found primarily in green tea helps prevent this cell death. Moreover EGCG is also known to speed up the healing process of the heart cells, by promoting tissue growth.

• A sugar less tea will give you a sweet smile!

Cutting down on the sugar content of one’s tea will lead to plaque free whiter teeth! How?

Well along with plenty of anti-oxidants, tea contains fluoride and tannins, both are compounds which prevent the buildup of plaque on teeth. In fact the excess sugar that we add to our chai’s in India is to be blamed for the slight to excess discoloration of our teeth!

• Calorie free ‘Cutting’

Drinking tea not only helps to protect you from heart diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s and plaque on teeth, but it also helps to reduce your calorie count! Tea in its original form without the addition of sugar or milk has close to zero calories and lesser caffeine content as compared to coffee.

• Helps prevent Arthritis

Tea contains anti- inflammatory properties which prevent one from suffering Arthritis. The alkaloids  present in tea like Theine, Theobromine and Theophylline combine with the polyphenols in the tea and act primarily as anti- inflammatory agents preventing inflammation and thereby Arthritis!

• Tea builds up your immune system

Be it the green, black or any herbal variant of your usual tea, one common thing is that they all help build up your immune system. Drinking tea regularly helps protect you from viruses that can cause diarrhea, pneumonia, cystitis, and skin infections.

• Tea drinkers have strong Bones!

Research has proven that Tea drinkers have strong bones and this is mainly due to the high fluoride content along with the presence of other flavonoids and phytoestrogen which play an important role in helping bones preserve their density.

Drinking tea is also known to increase one’s mental alertness and concentration due to the lack of caffeine in it, along with slowing down the development of Alzheimer's and so on... And now that you know of the numerous health benefits provided by tea, “Ek cup garma garam chai hojaye?”