Tea, especially the green variety, is often touted as a panacea for health and even weight-loss. Louise Wates puts the kettle on and looks at whether it is a reputation that is well-deserved.
Along with fish and chips, a cup of tea is integral to the British stereotype. Perhaps demonstrating its importance, a letter written by one of my great-grandmothers during World War II states how a falling German bomb caused her cup of tea to fall off the table: she actually sounded more cross about the tea (which was strictly rationed) than the bomb.
But as the UK drinks’ market has changed, so have we. New, exotic infusions are finding their way into our shopping baskets and many of our high street coffee shops sell chai lattes (a version of what is commonly called ‘special chai’ in tea stalls all over India) as well as iced, green teas and matcha lattes (a version of the luxury Japanese drink). And to go with our hot drinks, we’re also seeing the emergence of green tea infused cakes and ice creams.
So it would seem that the so-called western diet can’t take anything ‘healthy’ without turning it into something sugary; but green tea confectionary didn’t start in the UK. In Japan, green tea is found in cakes, ice cream, chocolate and biscuits. Having visited Japan several times, I’ve been told by friends that green tea and matcha (the royalty of green teas) is very healthy indeed, although how healthy it is once it’s been enrobed in sugar and fat is debateable. But as one Tokyo-based friend said: “Nobody thinks about being healthy with green tea cakes”; before going on to recommend matcha daifuku — soft, round rice cake stuffed with strong green tea cream. I await my next Japanese care package with interest.
Benefits
The health benefits of tea, whether green, white or black, do hit the headlines sporadically. In 2015, The Health Council of the Netherlands was reported as recommending between three and five cups of black tea a day, with the view that this would help reduce blood pressure, diabetes and stroke risk.1
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