A Short Primer on Chinese Tea

Not too long ago in America, a cup of Chinese tea was a cup of tea. Now you can go into almost any supermarket and find dozens of brands and flavors from which to choose. This is good news and bad news. It’s good because people are drinking more Chinese tea than ever, and that’s what we want to happen. The bad news is that you may be confused—if not intimidated—by all the Chinese tea options and don’t know how to make the right choice.This article will help you out of your confusion. Here’s the first and perhaps the most important thing you need to know: Not everything you think of as tea is really tea. All true tea comes from one plant, Camellia sinensis. That’s right! All tea comes from one plant. There is not a white tea plant, a green tea plant, an oolong tea plant, or a black tea plant. There is only one tea plant. Now you know more about tea than 95 percent of the rest of America does. So when you read about a medical study where green tea is proven to aid in weight loss, or if you read that white tea is good for reducing cholesterol, you now know that all tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, so it does not matter which type you drink. I am often asked which kind of tea is the healthiest. My answer is always the same: “The kind you like to drink.” There are some minor differences in the four kinds of tea: White teas and green teas have slightly higher levels of polyphenols (antioxidants found in plants); oolong tea and black tea have recently been shown to be more effective in preventing certain diseases, such as heart disease and high blood pressure. However, the general consensus is that the kind of tea you drink is not as important as the fact that you drink it. All four types of tea have the same health benefits.All four types of tea will aid in your weight loss; all four types of tea will help reduce cholesterol. And all four types of tea have many more proven health benefits, which you’ll read about in the next two chapters. If the beverage you’re drinking does not come from Camellia sinensis, it is not tea. “Tisane” (tee-SAHN) is the term used within the industry for anything that resembles tea but does not come from the tea plant. When we talk about tea throughout the rest of this book, unless we specifically say otherwise, we are talking about the four main categories of tea that come from this plant: white, green, oolong tea, and black. This is important to remember because if you want to lose weight on the Ultimate Tea Diet, you must drink true tea. Only tea that comes from the Camellia sinensis plant contains the properties that will help you lose weight. Of course, if you want to drink tisanes in addition to true Chinese tea, go right ahead. Although they don’t contain weight-loss aids, most have other positive health benefits. And many are extremely helpful for reducing cravings for sweet snacks, especially in the evening hours.