Health effects of tea facts for kids

Tea, made from the Camellia sinensis plant, has been a popular drink for a very long time. Many people believe it has great health benefits. However, scientific studies haven't found much strong proof that drinking tea makes you much healthier. One clear effect is that it can make you feel more awake. This is because of a substance called caffeine found in tea leaves.

In places where clean drinking water is hard to find, boiling water to make tea is a good way to stay safe. The heat from boiling kills tiny microorganisms that can cause waterborne diseases. This makes the water safe to drink.

What's in Your Tea?

Metals in Tea

Tea leaves naturally contain small amounts of metals like aluminum and iron. Some studies have looked into whether the aluminum in tea could be linked to health issues like Alzheimer's disease. But so far, there isn't enough clear evidence to say for sure.

Drinking a lot of black tea might make it harder for your body to take in iron. Iron is very important for your blood. If someone has anaemia, which means they don't have enough iron, drinking too much black tea could be harmful.

Some people worry that boiling tea for a very long time, like in traditional methods, might release more of these natural substances into the drink.

Fluoride in Tea

All tea leaves have fluoride, which is a mineral. Older tea leaves can have much more fluoride than younger ones from the same plant.

The amount of fluoride in tea depends on where the plant grew and how the leaves were picked. Tea plants soak up fluoride from the soil more easily than other plants. Choosing good places to grow tea can help reduce the fluoride levels. It's thought that tea picked by hand might have less fluoride than machine-harvested tea. This is because hand-picking is less likely to collect older leaves.

A study in 2013 found that cheaper tea blends in the UK had the highest fluoride levels. Green teas had less, and pure tea blends had the least. This suggests that cheaper teas might use older leaves. The study calculated that someone drinking a liter of economy tea daily would get more fluoride than usually recommended.

Oxalates in Tea

Tea also contains a substance called oxalate. If you have too much oxalate, it can sometimes lead to kidney stones. It can also affect how your body uses calcium.

However, your body doesn't absorb much oxalate from tea. So, you would need to drink a huge amount of tea for it to cause problems. Very heavy black tea drinking has been linked to kidney problems in rare cases because of its high oxalate content.

Theanine and Caffeine in Tea

Tea contains theanine and caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it can make you feel more awake and alert. A typical cup of tea has less caffeine than a cup of coffee of the same size. This is because you use more coffee grounds to make a cup of coffee than you use tea leaves for a cup of tea.

Tea also has tiny amounts of other similar substances called theobromine and theophylline. Caffeine is a mild diuretic, meaning it makes you pee more. But experts say that drinking tea usually doesn't cause dehydration and can count towards your daily water intake.

How Tea Affects Your Body

Brain Power

Drinking tea with caffeine can help you think more clearly and stay alert. Some early studies suggest that drinking tea (or coffee) over a long time might offer a small amount of protection against memory problems like dementia or Alzheimer's disease as people get older. However, different studies have shown different results, so it's not a definite conclusion yet.

Cancer and Tea

Scientists have done many studies to see if drinking tea can help prevent cancer. In 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there was very little proof that green tea could lower the risk of breast and prostate cancer.

The US National Cancer Institute says that studies on tea and cancer prevention have not been clear. They do not recommend drinking tea specifically to reduce cancer risk. The results are often different because of how tea is prepared, how much people drink, how the body absorbs tea compounds, and even differences in people's lifestyles and genes. While there's some weak evidence for green tea helping with certain cancers, it's not strong enough to be conclusive.

Some studies have found that drinking black tea does not seem to protect against cancers of the mouth or throat, or lung cancer. However, a study in 2018 suggested that tea might be linked to a small decrease in the risk of oral cancer.

Heart Health

Early long-term studies suggest that drinking black tea might slightly lower the risk of stroke. However, other reviews found that green tea and black tea didn't have a big effect on the risk of coronary heart disease, which affects the heart's blood vessels.

Some studies have shown that drinking black tea regularly can slightly lower your blood pressure. More research is still needed to fully understand how tea affects heart health.

Bone Health

Drinking tea does not seem to affect your risk of breaking bones, including hip fractures or arm fractures.

Weight Loss

Many people think green tea helps with weight loss. But there isn't good evidence that drinking it for a long time helps people who are overweight or obese lose weight. It also doesn't seem to help much with keeping a healthy weight. Trying to lose weight with green tea can sometimes cause minor side effects like nausea, constipation, or an upset stomach.