The medical functions of tea can be divided into both physical benefits and psychological benefits.
Psychological Benefits
Humans are such elegant creatures that they are the true love of nature. Everyone has been born with an original impulse to return to nature, to be close to nature in their deep hearts. The Chinese characters are really amazing; the Chinese character for "Tea" has grass on top, wood at the bottom and human in between, which is a human between grass and wood. Our Ancestors probably thought that tea is such a wonderful way to communicate with Nature; tea scholars think "to savour tea alone means you will become enlightened". When a person is savoring tea under the requirements of the Tea Ceremony he will enter into a mood in which he will see the steam and will be able to enjoy the true tea smell and the persons own tranquility, all of this could relax him both mentally and physically which is such a self-absorbing atmosphere, after this the human body will creates its own universe which converses with the larger universe to help your heart to commune with and love the flowers, listen to the mountains, touch the vibrations in water and feel the beauty of falling leaves. A piece of broken Lotus leaf, little ring, a piece of cloud and a little wind would make you feel pleased. It is just like what Lu Tong said in his poem "Songs of the Seven Bowls of Tea". This lonely yet relaxed spiritually self-absorbing nice feeling of endless pleasure is beneficial for the human body.
In a certain social environment, there are desires and callings for real friendships in people's hearts. Fang Yi once wrote a couplet "Thousands of cups of alcohol could not make you close to other, but a pure cup of tea can make you drunk as well". The Chinese Tea Ceremony not just emphasizes upon "savoring alone to become Enlightened", but also emphasizes "savoring all together to gain enjoyment and wisdom". Tea is the best method for people to communicate with each other. People would be open-minded and easy to communicate with when drinking tea. During the time people spend together, no matter what other people's attitudes may be, just smile and let it go, hence real tea drinkers have good relationships with others and which also is an essential medicine for keeping in good health.
Besides this, "relaxing after the hard friendship is the balanced way". Nowadays, no matter what your career is, you face serious competition and you have to struggle to strive in business. If you could have half a day off or take time off from work, calm yourself and have a cup of tea, you would feel you have entered into a relaxation room and your heart would be completely at ease. Recently a new of life "Slow Living" is becoming popular, which is a supplement or adjustment to the fast industrialized society we live in. So called "Slow Living" means deliberately slowing down some parts of your life in order to experience life itself, Choosing to be fast is an unblamable pursuit, but choosing a slower way is a self-recognizing life attitude. It was just because of this, that "Slow Living" became more popular and currently has already developed in 50 countries since it started in Italy in 1986.
The Ten Beneficial Health Effects of Tea
(1) Cheering of the Spirit
Modem pharmacists prove that tea has a function which cheers up the spirit mainly caused by three factors. The first one is tea alkaloid and caffeines in tea to improve the metabolism. The second is theanine which will enhance people's memory and concentration. The third is the aromatic substances which can cheer the spirit, please the spirit, eliminate exhaustion and improve working efficiency.
(2) Is beneficial for a healthy urinary tract
This Sanction is created by the alkaloid in tea. Scientific research shows the amount of urine produced by tea drinkers during the same amount of time is 1.5 times more than that of those who only drink water. The amount of chlorides produced by tea drinker is 2.5 times higher than that of those who only drink water. Hence, drinking tea is in preventing kidney stones and releases the human body from contamination from chlorates in water.
The tea polyphenol can boost movement in the large and small intestines. Hence, drinking with glass cup would help the body remove poisonous substances and keep it in good health.
Besides this savoring tea helps produce sweat thus toxins are removed Pharmacists think that tea is the best washer and cleaner of the human body and its cells.
(3) Strengthening teeth and prevent cavities
Cavitie is a common disease in humans, tea tree is a plant that could collect fluorine elements from the earth, fluorine is good for teeth. Except for this, tea polyphenol are combined to kill viruses that live within the cracks in teeth. It is not only good to protect teeth but also to remove halitosis.
(4) Kills viruses and eliminates infections
Pharmacist research shows that, catechin, theaflavin and tea polyphenol kills enteritis bacteria and it is very efficient in curing Staphyloccocus aureus rosenbach and Salmonella typhi. Besides these, tea polyphenol is efficient in curing bordetella pertussis, cholera bacillus flu and gastroenteritis.
(5) Detoxification and encouraging sobriety There are two main detoxification organs in the body, the kidneys and the liver, of which the liver has the strongest ability to detoxify, the liver works with enzymes to render aerobic viruses via the aerobic respiration into harmless substances.
The kidneys adjust the body fluids and balance the alkali and acidic substances in the blood and drain away poisonous substances through urination. Modem pharmaceutical research already proves that tea can improve remarkably the metabolism of the liver and kidneys, preventing liver and kidney damage.
(6) Lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure
Modem pharmaceutical research shows that many diseases that cause ageing like hemorrhages, coronary heart disease, serious of the arteries, thrombosis, obesity, and these diseases are related to high levels of fat in the blood. The catechin in tea can combine with fat molecules thus helping to eliminate these via remove from the human body. The teasaponin element can reduce the absorption of fat by reducing the amount of fat that can be absorbed by the intestines.
High blood pressure is a common disease caused by modem lifestyles, our national average figure of this disease is 4.9%, the caffeine in tea and the catechin can loosen and elasticated the blood vessels, which can efficiently enlarge the availability of the blood vessels and lower blood pressure. There is a few rutin in tea which has a function to maintain the softness of the blood vessels and lower blood pressure.
(7) A skin care and beautifying product
If the intestines were unable to assist in the removal of poisonous substance in the human body. Toxins would then be absorbed into the blood and produces harmful chemical m the human body. This would generate acne, freckles and spots constipation would affect the skin. But tea can clean the body of toxins, make skin more smooth and elastic. Drinking tea can help control diet, making the human body keep slim. Zinc in tea which can be easily absorbed by human body over 100 kinds of enzymes in the body contain Zinc, hence tea can boost the metabolism, promote growth in bones, organs and skin. The anti-oxidation, anti-aging Vitamins C and E in tea, would maintain elasticity of skin, restrain the pigmentation of skin and prevent spots. The aromatic substances in tea would cheer the spirit and create a pleasing emotion, which will naturally enrich the result of skin care.
(8) Protecting the liver and the eyes
This function is mainly due to the variety of vitamins and catechin found in tea. Carptenes are absorbed into the body which improves the retinas in their ability to see colors, hence drinking tea can brighten the eyes. The function of protecting the liver is mainly through the catechin in tea preventing cholesterol depositing into the liver and body.
(9) Protection against radiation and cancer
After the 2nd World War, many survivors from nuclear bomb incidents were exposed to radiation and died of strange diseases over long periods of time. The Japanese investigators discovered that there was a high rate of survivors who drank tea constantly. This investigation attracted many scientists' interest on tea's ability to protect the body from radiation, and they did a lot of experiments. Some of the scientists distilled the tea polyphenol to feed to laboratory rats and then exposed them to radiation and the result was that most of the rats given tea hydroxy-benzine survived, but the other group of rats not given the tea polyphenol all died. Hence, Japanese called tea "the beverage of the Modem Age", many experts suggested people who usually touch radioactive equipment (for example TV's, computers) should drink tea regularly. Modem pharmacists think that tea is anticancer beverage. The main anti-cancer substances are tea polyphenol, pigments, alkaloid and different kinds of vitamins, anti-cancer minerals axe mainly Zinc, Molybdenum and Manganuse, many scientific research dates prove tea water has the function to stop the formation of cancer cells, and could efficiently restrain cancer genes combined with DNA.
(10) Delaying the ageing process and prolonging life
A long life has been a dream for human beings for a long time. Modem science believes it is impossible to be immortal, but delaying the ageing process and prolonging life has already become true. Why do people become old? Most experts think that the main reason for ageing is generated by the production of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are active chemical substances produced via the process of metabolasi, it would cause the fatty acids to be oxidated, and produce saturated fats, these substances then stay upon the human face, hands and skin creating so called liver spots, these sediments stay in the liver and on the surface of cells would make the organs age quicker. Modem research proves that the catechin has a function of anti-oxidation and anti-aging.