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From fruit juices enriched with adaptogens to kombucha packed with probiotics, there is no shortage of “functional” drinks these days that claim to have what it takes to keep you in great shape.
But when it comes to staying on top of your hydration needs, tea – the most consumed drink in the world after water – is a less expensive, flavorful, aromatic, and overall healthy beverage to sip throughout. of the day.
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According to an ever-expanding body of research, drinking tea can do your body a lot of good. Amy Goodson, MS, RD, CSSD, author of The sports nutrition manual, tell Ride a bike this tea contains a variety of plant compounds that provide health benefits and are especially useful for athletes who train a lot and who are constantly working to better recover and fight inflammation.
Here are some quick facts on the benefits of tea for general health:
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Brewing the tea for 3 minutes or more can release more beneficial antioxidants into the water.
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Tea is healthy, but even more so if you drink it at a temperature below 140 ° F, which reduces your chances of developing esophageal cancer. Drinks that are too hot can damage throat cells, increasing the risk of cancer.
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Consuming tea with milk can cause the protein casein in milk to bind the antioxidants in tea, making them less useful for us.
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For better flavor and possibly healthier compounds in a cup, brew loose tea instead of tea bags.
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Don’t expect to replicate the healthy effects of brewed tea with bottled brands, they are usually very sweet. If you want a cool summer drink, try brewing your own iced tea from infused tea leaves with just a touch of sweetener like honey.
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Outside of the cup, matcha powder can be added to oatmeal, smoothies, baked goods, and popsicles.
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Herbal teas, such as chamomile or echinacea, are technically herbal teas or infusions of herbs and spices (so they are not real tea). But they can also help with hydration efforts and may provide other health benefits.
So turn on the kettle, while we sort through the variety of teas to find those that have significant benefits.
Green tea
According to research, a combination of high-intensity interval training (hello, hill reps) and green tea supplements can have positive effects on cholesterol levels and VO2 max.
Other studies, including this one and this one, show that regular consumption of green tea extract, including before a workout, can increase VO2 max, your maximum oxygen uptake during exercise, which may which can help you get away from the bag.
One potential reason for this: The abundance of polyphenolic catechin compounds (a type of antioxidant) in green tea can increase blood flow to muscles and / or improve removal of oxygen from the blood, all of which could both have the potential to improve performance.
Another study in the review Physiology & Behavior suggests that supplementation with green tea extract may reduce the damaging effects of exercise on muscles, which may improve recovery.
“Catechins are natural antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals in the body to help reduce exercise-induced stress on the body,” says Goodson.
The big caveat here is that almost all of the green tea and exercise studies have used concentrated green tea supplements. So we don’t know how much brewed green tea you would need to drink to get the same level of compounds to have a beneficial impact. Additionally, antioxidant levels can vary widely between different brands.
When it comes to health measures, science suggests that drinking more green tea may help lower your risk for everything from diabetes and strokes to depression, weak bones and heart disease. But we need a lot more data on how much tea needs to be sipped on a daily basis to have a noticeable impact, and whether certain types of green tea pack more punch than others.
Matcha tea
This verdant powder benefits from a well-deserved halo of health. Matcha, made from air-dried and then powdered tea leaves, is like the superhero version of regular green tea, since you consume the leaves whole. epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).
“Research suggests that EGCG is associated with a reduced risk of cancer, high blood pressure, and plaque buildup in blood vessels,” says Goodson.
Taking more EGCG can also help protect you from a cold or the flu, which is especially helpful during times of heavy training that can temporarily suppress immunity. Green tea powder has been shown to improve cognitive functioning in the elderly, but this brain benefit may or may not occur in young people.
Similar to green tea, a study in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism suggests that drinking matcha might have beneficial effects on endurance by helping to save your carb stores when you need it most – any strenuous exertion. But at this time, we have no data to say whether a daily matcha latte habit can make any noticeable improvements in KOM or QOM pursuits.
Although matcha provides caffeine, it also contains an amino acid called L-theanine, which has a calming effect and fights anxiety.
Better quality matcha will have naturally sweet and vegetal tasting notes and a vibrant green tint.
Oolong tea
Oolong is made when the tea leaves are semi-oxidized to varying degrees, and its color, flavor, and antioxidant levels fall somewhere between green tea and black tea.
Oolong appears to have strong antioxidant capacity, which means that it can help reduce the damaging effects of free radicals on cells and, in turn, perhaps offer some protection against certain conditions like breast cancer. Additionally, emerging research has found that drinking tea, including oolong, may tip our microbiome further towards a population of beneficial bacteria, which may lead to better digestive and immune health. What’s more, research also shows that drinking oolong can improve your cycling weight-to-power ratio.
Let’s not forget that drinking tea, including oolong, can help you with your daily hydration efforts. An article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition notes that clinical studies show that tea is as good a source of hydration as water or a sports drink. One of the main benefits of drinking brewed tea is that it can replace sugary drinks in our diet.
Black tea
The flavor of black tea can range from spicy to fruity to floral, and popular varieties include Earl Gray and Darjeeling.
While black tea is not as rich in antioxidants as its green counterpart, it can also be a heart helper. Based on the results of this systematic review, each 8-ounce cup of unsweetened black tea consumed per day reduced the risk of premature death from heart disease in people by about 4%, compared to non-tea drinkers. One reason is the tea’s power to improve cholesterol levels, including lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, while helping to increase beneficial HDL cholesterol counts. And, a study in the journal Nutrients found that drinking 2 cups of black tea a day helped people lower their blood pressure.
You can also brighten up your morning walks or deal with an afternoon crunch with black tea, which tends to have a higher caffeine content than green tea.
“However, it’s important to note that caffeine consumption affects various people in various ways,” says Goodson. “People more sensitive to caffeine might benefit from smaller amounts, while some people might need higher levels of caffeine to see a performance benefit.”
It may take up to 4 cups of black tea to produce roughly the same caffeine effect as a cup of coffee. Still, that might be enough to disrupt sleep, so make black tea a habit earlier in the day.
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