Fancy a cuppa?
Tea is one of Australia’s favourite beverages
With winter coming on it’s easy to want a warm beverage such as a cup of tea to fill your stomach on a cold day. Some studies suggest numerous health benefits from tea including reduced risk of heart disease, slowing down some cancers and reducing the severity of liver disease. Tea is made from the plant camillia sinesis, a relative of the camillia plant found in various Australian gardens. The protective agents in tea are called catechins. The level of catechins depends on how much the tea leaf has been processed or oxidised. The major difference between types of tea is also dependent on their degree of processing or exposure to oxygen.
THERE ARE FOUR MAIN TYPES OF TEA:
White tea is made from young tea leaves and is the freshest type of tea and has the most catechins. Green tea is also made quickly by steaming or heating the leave to protect against the breakdown of the catechins. Oolong is semi-fermented meaning it is not processed as much as black tea but more than green tea. Black tea: the leaves are exposed to heat, light and crushing.
The caffeine content of tea varies widely depending on the kind of tea. Typically levels of caffeine in tea are less than half of coffee — a safe upper limit for consumption is no more than four cups per day.