Black Tea vs. Green Tea: Health Benefits & Which is Best?

Green tea has now become the mantra of good health among office goers. People flock to the cafeteria on tea breaks and drink freshly brewed green tea believing that it will cure all their health problems. Indeed, green tea does have several health benefits but it was never this popular in the world. The world and India in particular has always preferred the stronger black tea.

The black variety of tea also hails from China. But in the recent past, pour habit of having a stiff brew of black tea has been cast aside for the more alluring benefits of its green cousin. However, this may not be as healthy a choice as we consider it to be. Black tea has many health benefits of its own. Here are some of them.

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If you are a regular black tea drinker, then you will be at lower risk for heart strokes. An independent study done by the Netherlands National Institute of Public Health has concluded that black liquor tea improves heart health and thus reduces the chances of stroke.

• The flavinoids that are present in this type of tea, hinder the production of bad cholesterol in the body. That is why it reduces the chances of cardiac attacks.
• Hardening of artery walls and also blockages can be reversed by sipping some black tea.
• This type tea improved digestion and helps speed up metabolic rate. This point is true for green tea as well.
• Just like its green counter part, black tea too aids weight loss. This is true provided you have your tea without milk and sugar. Use tea bags when ever possible. This way, you can get a correct picture of how many calories you are consuming at once.
• Black tea is also good for your hair. It is usually soaked with henna leaves and applied on the hair. This gives hair a beautiful black colour.

The Caffeine Catch:

You must have realised by now that both these types of tea have health benefits that are very similar to each other. Then what is the actual difference between these two types of tea? It is the caffeine content. The black variety has 2 to 3 times more caffeine than the green one. While caffeine has its own benefits like weight loss, it is generally considered to be an addictive substance. It also has a lot of harmful effects on the body, especially the central nervous system. However, there is no clear consensus among medical experts regarding caffeine. So we don't know how much is too much as far as this substance is concerned.

We can only conclude that tea in general is healthy. You can take your pick in between green or black tea according to your taste.