Does Gourmet Tea Really Have Health Benefits Or Does it Just Taste Good?

Hot gourmet tea, especially in the cooler nights during the winter, is a great way to relax in the evening. Although red wine has been discovered to have extensive health benefits, drinking wine every night is definitely not a good general health plan. During those hot days of summer, many find that iced tea more refreshing than a carbonated soda. It isn't surprising that tea has been gaining in popularity for many years, but it is interesting to find that gourmet tea lovers can tout their favorite drink with a long list of newly discovered health benefits.

Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, FACN, chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University, has cited tea as one of the top healthy foods for 2010 and the future. "The scientific evidence about tea is evolving and I think it's compelling," says Blumberg. The past decade has yielded substantial research that, according to Blumberg, shows that "there is a pretty consistent body of evidence suggesting there is a benefit to tea. Tea is a very rich source of a specific kind of antioxidant - flavonoids."

Studies are still somewhat inconsistent. One study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition followed nearly 40,000 women for almost seven years, coming to a conclusion that drinking four cups of tea a day produced no reduction in their risk of heart disease. However, Blumberg points out that the bulk of research does indicate that regular tea drinkers (those that drink two or more cups a day) have less heart disease and stroke, lower cholesterol, and may recover from heart attacks more quickly. Early laboratory studies indicate that there may be a relationship between tea consumption and reduced risk of several types of cancer.

Antioxidants seem to have become the morning news and talk show buzz word lately, replacing last decade's interest in the health benefits of soy products. Antioxidants are substances that can reduce certain types of environmental damage, oxidative damage, in the body which helps maintain healthy cells and tissues. The latest research suggests that tea is full of these antioxidants. In particular, black tea and green tea has been shown to have positive health benefits. Interestingly, decaffeinating the tea does not decrease its level of healthy antioxidants in any way.

There is a huge variety of choices of gourmet tea available, but it is important to purchase high quality tea that is fresh. Most tea goes stale within six months. Not only does stale tea have less antioxidants, but it just doesn't taste very good.

For gourmet tea lovers, there is one more benefit that rarely gets mentioned in all this scientific stuff. Assuming you do not add milk, sugar or honey to tea, tea has no calories. That makes it much easier to continue eating that other newly discovered haven for antioxidants: Dark Chocolate.

Find out more about Gourmet Tea, and visit http://www.AnythingGoesGourmet.com for reviews and news about gourmet food, cookware and wine.