What are the health benefits of white tea? Read on and you will understand

I. Historical records of white tea used as medicine

White tea has long had the saying, "one-year tea, three-year medicine, seven-year treasure." In North China and the producing areas of Fujian, white tea is widely regarded as a good medicine for treating and caring for measles patients, and there is a legend that Lady Taimu used white tea to cure diseases and save people. Therefore, Zhou Lianggong of the Qing Dynasty recorded in Min Xiao Ji: "Baihao Yinzhen, produced in Hongxue Cave of Taimu Mountain, is cold in nature, and its effects are comparable to rhinoceros horn; it is a miraculous medicine for treating measles."

II. Use of white tea's health benefits

Influenced by the health benefits of white tea, the consumer base for white tea is growing larger and larger in countries and regions such as Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia. Today, white tea is not only highly praised as a healthy beverage; Europe and the United States have also developed cosmetics, shampoo, and other products from white tea. The main benefits of white tea are reflected in anti-aging (beauty care), whitening and skin care, and weight loss, among others, and its main benefits fully meet the needs of urban women.

III. Comparison of the compounds contained in white tea

White tea's benefits are so impressive; do you know why? Although the components contained in different teas, such as tea polyphenols, amino acids, alkaloids, sugars, aromatic substances, vitamins, minerals, proteins, and so on, are almost the same, white tea stands head and shoulders above the rest in the content of active ingredients.

From the table, it can be seen that the content of flavonoids, amino acids, soluble carbohydrates, polysaccharides, and other substances in white tea exceeds that of other teas. This is because during the processing of white tea (mainly the withering process), the activity of endogenous enzymes is moderately stimulated and utilized, which is conducive to the formation and accumulation of amino acids, flavonoids, and soluble carbohydrates. This is also the basis for white tea having more health benefits than other teas.

IV. Outstanding benefits of white tea

When it comes to the benefits of tea, everyone is familiar with them and can readily list lowering blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood sugar; fighting cancer, aging, and radiation; anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant effects; and clearing the liver, improving eyesight, and refreshing the mind. But for white tea, all of these are simply too weak!

According to domestic and international research on white tea, the processing technique and the changes in biochemical components give it more obvious effects in the three reductions and three resistances than other teas. Its sterilizing and antibacterial effects are also better than those of green tea, and its effects in removing dampness, reducing fever, beautifying the skin, and removing spots are also quite significant.

(1) Reducing fever and anti-inflammatory: White tea absorbs less heat during processing and is the best cooling beverage, with the effect of removing dampness and reducing fever. In the folk traditions of Fuding, it has always been passed down that white tea infusion is used for disinfection, anti-inflammatory purposes, and sterilization. Aged Baihao Yinzhen can be used as an antipyretic for children with measles, and its fever-reducing effect is better than that of antibiotics. The ancients called it a miraculous medicine for measles.

(2) Antioxidant: Research results from the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center show: "The antioxidant substances in one cup of green tea equal 4 cups of orange juice, while the antioxidant substances in one cup of white tea equal 12 cups of orange juice."

(3) Anti-mutation: Through the Salmonella test, it was found that in every group of experiments, white tea showed more effective anti-mutation effects than other types of tea, theoretically suggesting that white tea has greater anti-cancer potential than green tea and black tea.

Note: The Salmonella test is an experiment used to detect whether a certain chemical substance has an anti-DNA mutation effect. The earliest manifestation of a healthy cell transforming into a cancer cell is DNA mutation.

(4) Anti-cancer: In our daily cooking process, substances such as sugars and amino acids can easily transform into heterocyclic amine compounds with carcinogenic effects. Studies show that white tea has a very significant inhibitory effect on various heterocyclic amine carcinogenic mutagens. The combined use of sulindac and white tea also affects the expression of beta-catenin, blocking the formation of carcinogenic substances, thereby playing a chemopreventive role against cancer. It also reduces the toxic side effects of non-steroidal anti-cancer drugs (NSAIDs), among other effects.

(5) Lowering blood pressure: According to measurements, the free amino acid content of white tea is significantly higher than that of other teas, especially the content of theanine. Injecting theanine into spontaneously hypertensive rats caused a significant decrease in blood pressure, with diastolic pressure, systolic pressure, and mean blood pressure all decreasing, and no major change in heart rate.

(6) Lowering blood sugar and blood lipids: The special processing technique of white tea better preserves the active enzymes necessary for the human body that are present in smaller amounts in other teas. Long-term consumption of white tea can significantly increase the activity of lipoprotein lipase in the human body, promote fat decomposition and metabolism, effectively control insulin secretion, delay glucose absorption, decompose excess sugar in the body, and promote blood sugar balance. At the same time, it promotes pancreatic juice secretion, reducing the sources of blood sugar and increasing its removal.

(7) Liver protection: In in vitro experiments, it has been proven that white tea extract can relatively effectively inhibit the secretion of HBsAg and HBeAg, thereby inhibiting the replication and expression of the hepatitis B virus.

(8) Enhancing immunity: White tea is rich in theanine, and theanine is decomposed into ethylamine in the human liver. Ethylamine can then mobilize immune cells in the human blood to respond against external invasions, and then T-shaped cells promote interferon secretion, forming the human body's "chemical defense line" against infection.

(9) Weight loss: Obesity is caused by fat synthesis and metabolism in fat cells exceeding decomposition and metabolism. White tea can significantly inhibit the activity of fat synthesis enzymes in fat cells and promote fat decomposition and metabolism in the body to achieve weight loss effects.