Tea Guide

Learn More About Tea

Tea has more healthful properties than any other plant.

There is no other plant known that has had such a positive effect on human health. Tea has been used for centuries and been found in scientific studies to be protective against cancers, viruses, bacteria, plague, diabetes, tooth decay and aging. Used regularly tea improves heart function, energy and maintains weight and wil assist in weight loss. It is truly a super food without calories.

Tea is loaded with protective organic compounds that coat and seal exposed cell surfaces and bind loose ends of DNA. A small amount of these tea compounds in and on the body protects and repairs many types of general environmental damage and stresses.

Researchers are finding that all teas -- white, green, oolong and black tea from the Camellia sinensis plant -- may aid in achieving a long and healthy life.

Tea contains flavonoids, compounds with antioxidant properties. Antioxidants work to neutralize free radicals that may damage the body and contribute to chronic diseases. White and green teas contain the most antioxidant properties, followed by Oolong and then Black teas.

Our history of tea begins in China. Tea is given its 'birth date' of 2737 BC. In the classic tea book Ch'a Ching written by Lu Yu in 780 AD. The discoverer is said to be Emperor Shen Nung.

Lu Yu gave Emperor Nung credit for writing a treatise on tea where Shen Nung said "Tea gives one vigor of body, contentment of mind, and determination of purpose, when taken over a long period of time." He also said "Better to drink such a beverage than to drink wine which loosens the tongue!" Lu Yu's book made many additional notes of the medicinal benefits of tea which are still being confirmed till this day.

Yu's Ch'a Ching (Classic of Tea) took over two decades to write and it dealt with the correct brewing of tea, the utensils to use and the proper water. He described steeping in a way to maximize the taste and health benefits of the individual teas.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) China was the largest, wealthiest, and most populous empire on earth.  Its population exceeded fifty million and its capital city was home to two million. Trade and the arts flourished and so did the custom of tea drinking. This tea drinking helped China to grow because the powerful antiseptic properties of tea which killed waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery even in water not properly boiled. The effect was that of reducing infant mortality and increasing longevity according to Tom Standage in his book A History of the World in Six Glasses.

China is the homeland of tea. It is believed that China has tea-shrubs as early as five to six thousand years ago, and human cultivation of tea plants dates back two thousand years. Tea from China, along with her silk and porcelain, began to be known the world over more than a thousand years ago and has since always been an important Chinese export. At present more than forty countries in the world grow tea with Asian countries producing 90% of the world's total output. All tea trees in other countries have their origin directly or indirectly in China.

The habit of tea drinking spread to Japan in the 6th century, but it was not introduced to Europe and America till the 17th and 18th centuries. Now the number of tea drinkers in the world is legion and is still on the increase.

While tea is one of the best healthy drinks, it is not suitable for everyone. There are seven kinds of people couldn't drink tea. The Patients with constipation, panasthenia, anemia, calcium deficiency, gastric acid and calculus. People who has a fever also couldn't drink tea. As for ladies, there are four fixed periods which are not suitable for tea, menses, pregnancy, lactation and menopause. Want to know more details refer to our Tea Introduction.