Whilst increasing attention is now rightly being paid to the health benefits of white and green teas, the virtues of the much more familiar, and still much more common, black tea, should not be neglected. All three are products of the camellia sinensis plant and as such have many common attributes, particularly in their anti-oxidant functions; the difference between them being entirely attributable to the differing methods by which they are produced.So-called “herbal teas”, by contrast, are drinks made from infusions of the leaves of a wide variety of other plants. Although these are often very beneficial to health, they are not “teas” at all in the strict sense, this term being restricted to the products of the camellia sinenis plant, and should be considered separately, probably as a branch of herbal medicine or therapy.The fresh, ie unprocessed, leaves of the camellia sinensis plant are rich in compounds known as polyphenols, and particularly those of a type known as catechins, which are powerful anti-oxidants. The problem is that these compounds are easily destroyed by the processing that the leaves go through. In the case of black teas the process, known as fermentation, results in the almost […]

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