I have been drinking green tea for 5+ years and absolutely enjoy the taste and health benefits of green tea. Here are some basic green tea facts / tea facts, if you are new to green tea and interested in buying green tea online.
Tea Types
There are basically four different types of tea: white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. All tea comes from the the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Herbal tea, or tisane, is not considered a true tea, because it does not come from the Camellia sinensis leaves and is instead made from various herbs which I will loosely describe as dried flowers, roots, stems, leaves, or berries of various plants.
As all tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea are different because they are processed differently.
White Tea
White tea is made from tea leaf buds. Because it is minimally processed, it may exhibit potent disease-fighting potential. There is little research on its health effects. It also tends to be the most expensive type of tea.
Green Tea
To make green tea, the leaves are picked and preserved (usually by steaming or baking) to keep them from undergoing the process of fermentation (or oxidation). It is this lack of oxidation that makes green tea good for you. The green tea leaves keep the rich polyphenols that give green tea its antioxidant properties.
Oolong Tea and Black Tea
Oolong and black tea are picked and exposed to the air for a period of time. During this period, the leaves ferment ( oxidize ). Oolong tea is exposed to the sun and allowed to partially ferment while black tea is fermented completely.
The process of fermentation slightly changes the essential chemical makeup of tea. The longer the leaves are allowed to ferment ( oxidize ), they have less antioxidant capabilities as well as higher caffeine. Generally, green tea has one-half to one-third the caffeine of black tea.
Green Tea Antioxidants
Green tea contains several substances collectively called polyphenols that have displayed potent antioxidant effects and other cancer-combating properties. Approximately 90 percent of the polyphenols found in green tea are called catechins (KAT-uh-kins). Green tea contains approximately three times the quantity of catechins found in black tea. The main catechins found in green tea are:
- catechin
- gallocatechin
- epicatechin
- epigallocatechin
- epicatechin gallate
- epigallocatechin gallate (also known as EGCG).
EGCG is the most active component in green tea, and is a stronger antioxidant than either vitamin C or E. For this reason, it is the most widely studied green tea compound. Learn more about China Green Tea and Japan Green Tea.
Green Tea Resources