Why is Tea So Healthy For You? [EXPERT GUIDE]

Tea is an ancient tradition of combining hot water with raw plant leaves to make a flavoured drink which has been used as an elixir, recreational drink and even a hallucinogenic substance.

Whatever tea has been used for, in our modern world you can go into virtually any department store and grab yourself any type of tea with various caffeine levels, different tastes, and best of all – various benefits to your health.

Yeah, that’s right – not all tea has the same effect on your body.

Just as different sources of food will provide different nutrients and therefore a different experience for strength and weight loss, various types of tea will be more beneficial than another.

Most people will be quite familiar with the common green tea, black tea and jasmine tea varieties – but are there any others that are effective for strength and weight loss or are these the best?

Before we get into the various types of tea to improve your strength and weight loss it is important to understand why tea can be healthy for you in the first place.

Why is Tea So Healthy For You?

Tea Has Antioxidants

For those who are engaged in sport or exercise, these antioxidants can actually help to increase your strength performance and lead to better success in recovery. These antioxidants also help to relieve oxidative stress – which is perfect for a post-meal drink to relax your body and allow for proper digestion.

Fight Free Radicals

A fancy term for something that really isn’t very good for your body. Fighting against free radicals is important for anyone who is looking to limit their onset of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer – drinking a cup of warm tea could be a good idea.

Tea is Still Good Hydration

Although some tea will have a very high amount of caffeine (which works as a diuretic) drinking tea will still help to hydrate the body. This makes it a perfect drink for anyone who is not too keen on drinking water and needs a little bit of favour in their drink.

Can Help With Weight Loss

This might be reaching a little bit but there have been numerous studies that show individuals who consume tea every day have much lower waist circumferences and BMI ratings than those who do not. Of course, it is difficult to say that correlation = causation, but if drinking tea can help you maintain or lose weight then why not.

Assists in Cognitive Performance

This is a big one and it’s one of the main reasons why I believe those who live longer on the Asian continent have it right. The research will show that the properties found in green tea can actually help to increase your cognitive performance and limit degeneration.

Bone Strength

Last but not least, green tea has been found to help improve bone strength. This is a major one for any bodybuilder or strength athlete as the stronger your bones are the more you can load weight on without having to worry about a skeletal injury.

What Are The Best Teas?

Now that we have a complete understanding of why tea can be healthy for you, are there some teas that are optimal for your health?

Chamomile Tea

Commonly known as cinnamon tea, this style of tea is perfect for relaxation and can even help to improve your sleep quality. It seems that by drinking a tea that contains cinnamon your body starts to reduce stress and even lower blood pressure.

This is also perfect for anyone who wants to help the muscles relax after a workout.

Ginger Tea

A personal favourite of mine, ginger tea has some pretty strong evidence to support its benefits as a tea for strength and recovery. It seems that ginger has the unique ability to lower the inflammation of muscles after a workout and could even be effective during points of injury rehab.

Ginger tea could also be beneficial for those who have a blood pressure reading that is uncommon or irregular as the tea could help stabilize the measures.

Echinacea Tea

Try to say that 10x fast.

This type of tea has gotten plenty of praise for being one of the better blends of tea to help solve the common cold. Now, this does not necessarily mean that it’s a surefire cure to the cold, but when you think about the benefits and that its a tasty drink – it’s certainly worth a try.

Lemon Balm Tea

A very common remedy for those who have high blood pressure or poor circulation. It seems like the lemon balm tea can help to enhance the bodies ability to vasodilate which can be very good for preventing heart disease or any condition due to a lack of blood flow.

Cassis Tea

Perhaps the strongest, the most caffeine-rich tea you can consume on this list. This tea is not for those who are trying to relax as the taste packs quite a powerful punch and would be a perfect addition to a pre-workout.

Sencha Tea

One of the most common and mild tea you can find. This tea has long been used as a staple for social settings as many people will enjoy the mild taste of this tea. You can drink it with friends after a meal and experience all the benefits of a natural tea together.

Drinking Tea For Optimal Health

The aim here was not to say that tea is the be all and end all of the health and optimal living but by reading through these blends of tea and their respective benefits I am sure you began to notice that there are some pretty amazing benefits that I am sure you wouldn’t want to miss.

It doesn’t matter if you are looking for something to wake you up, relax you, help with stomach pain or even improve heart and artery function – tea has the answer.

Do yourself a favour and take a trip to a specialty tea shop.

Talk to the people that work there and ask them about which teas are best for you needs and taste preferences. Trust me, the experience and benefits you will get from having a complete source of nutrition will be highly effective in the long-run.

Related: The Best Tea for Weight Loss

Gabriello Ianniruberto

Gabriello is a writer and strength expert best known for his science-based and practical approach to Exercise Physiology, Nutrition and Strength. After serving in a directors position for The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Gabriello moved towards writing to help more people understand the importance of living a healthy life. Gabriello’s writings have been published in several languages on some of the largest health and fitness websites helping people learn, grow and understand the complex components of optimizing human performance in a simplistic way.

Gabriello also takes on specialized, high-performance athletes who are in need of strength, mobility and conditioning programming to optimize their fitness through his Earned Fitness program.

The website healthychoice.reviews and the information in this article is for entertainment and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Make sure that anything you buy is compliant with your government's laws where you live. Your access is subject to our full disclaimer.

Healthy Choice.reviews is a reader-supported site. Purchases made through links may earn a commission. Read more.