Is White Tea the New Green? An Insiders Guide.

Doing business or just escaping from the office, the local coffee shop or tea shop is a popular place. But look around, those in the know are increasingly asking for white tea instead of coffee or green tea. Ask around and you will realise that these successful professionals, these no-nonsense go-getters, know something you don't - white tea is perhaps more beneficial than green. Now don't get me wrong here, white tea is not tea and milk, it is a type of tea that has been conferring its potential health benefits to the Chinese for centuries. Since the Ming Dynasty in fact. It was virtually unknown outside of Asia, although health food shops have stocked it for a good few years. It has taken a while but now medical researchers have carried out preliminary work that indicates that the levels of flavonoids and other polyphenols that function as antioxidants seems to be higher in white tea. Teas have a common origin, Camellia Sinensis. Two things make the difference, the time of harvesting and how the leaves are processed. White tea is made from immature tea leaves that are picked shortly before the buds have fully opened. White tea gets its name from the sliver down that covers the outside of the leaves as the bud is developing. When the buds are dried, this downy coat turns from a silver colour to white. But white tea is not just white tea! There are varieties. These are based on the number of buds to leaves. The most expensive, Silver Needle is made entirely from the buds, harvested during a few short days in spring whilst the variety known as White Peony has a greater proportion of leaves in with the buds. The leaves are then steamed instead of air drying. They are not fermented. The result of this minimal processing is a pure form of tea that retains its natural goodness. The taste of white tea is described as being sweet and silky without the grassy aftertaste of green tea. But apart from the antioxidant levels, the anti-bacterial properties of white tea have been studied at Pace University. Their initial results indicate that is has greater potential for killing fungal spores, yeast cells and bacteria, including the growth of the dental plaque bacterium. So as well as potentially protecting your cardio-vascular system, contributing to your body's defence against cancer and many other conditions, it may help reduce dental problems, halitosis and aid recovery from illness! How about that!! (Tech note: The effect of white tea extract was determined by observing zones of inhibition of bacteria grown on Mueller Hinton II Agar; the Kirby-Bauer technique). Disclaimer: This article is not intended as medical advice, it is for information only. The results of the pace study of white tea extract were obtained under the controlled conditions of a petri dish, they cannot be extrapolated to humans with full certainty without a great deal of further experimentation. The use of white tea may be beneficial to human health but it is not proven.