What is Oolong Tea?
Oolong tea is one of the most popular tea in the world after green tea and black tea. Oolong tea originated from Fujian province of China and now it is available worldwide. The shape, appearance, and flavor of oolong tea depends on the region where it’s grown. Oolong tea is mostly found and grown in Mainland China and Taiwan and it is very much in demand in Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. The flavour of oolong tea depends on some factors such as Tea cultivator, terroir, production process including oxidation and roasting and of course aging. Read to know the Benefit Of Oolong Tea.
Nutritional factors of Oolong tea:
Similar to black and green teas, oolong tea contains several vitamins, minerals, and helpful antioxidants. A cup of refreshing oolong tea delivers you with fluoride, manganese, potassium, sodium, magnesium, niacin and caffeine that are well-known to promote physical and mental well-being. It is also a rich source of amino acid theanine that plays a key role in relaxing the nervous system. Apart from these, oolong tea also contains polyphenols such as theaflavins, thearubigins and EGCG that combats free radical damage and lowers the risk of chronic diseases.
Health benefit of Oolong Tea
Along with the taste, aroma oolong tea comes with several health benefits and what else a tea lover wants from their favorite beverage. Some of the major benefit of oolong tea are:
- Weight Loss
The biggest advantage of having Oolong tea is it helps you shed those extra kilos. Apart from green tea, oolong is most famous as it helps in maintaining weight balance as it has low calories. Although weight loss is not just a one day process or there is no magic to reduce weight but it takes a lot of patience to lose weight and oolong tea does the same. It helps in fat burning and also increases metabolism. A recent animal study showed that extracts from oolong actually did help to increase fat oxidation — meaning they helped decrease body fat directly. oolong tea could improve fatty liver, reduce the size of fat cells, and fat accumulation in rats with obesity. A Chinese study on 102 overweight and obese patients showed that 70% of patients lost 1 kg in only 6 weeks of daily oolong tea consumption.
2. Heart Disease
Several studies have shown that oolong tea can help in reducing blood pressure and control high cholesterol levels, and reduce the risk of heart disease. One clinical trial showed that drinking 600 ml of oolong tea per day decreases LDL or bad cholesterol by 6.69% and may reduce the risk of developing dyslipidaemia.
- Helps In improving Brain Function
According to a study, partially fermented Oolong Tea contains both Caffeine and L-theanine and this combo can help in brain boosting and can help you stay focused and avoid distraction. Another smaller study from 2010 linked regularly drinking green, black, or oolong tea to improved cognition, memory, executive function, and information processing speed in older Chinese adults.
- Oolong tea helps in strengthen tooth and bones
According to one study, tea leaves contain bone friendly minerals and antioxidants and it may help preserve tooth and bones strong. Oolong tea is also a good source of fluoride so drinking oolong tea could help prevent cavities. One study found that women who drank 1 to 5 cups of oolong tea daily had much higher bone density than non-tea drinkers.
- Helps fight Cancer
Oolong tea is beneficial in preventing cancer cell mutations and lowers the risk of developing cancer, Another study in Chinese women found that drinking green, black, or oolong tea was linked to a decreased risk of ovarian cancer. One more study discovered that Chinese dan cong tea “may act as a substitute for natural antioxidants and as a promising anticancer agent due to its protective effect on human health . Drinking oolong tea on a regular basis delivers protective effects for lung, pancreatic, liver and colorectal cancers.
- Improves Blood Sugar
Some studies have shown that drinking 3 cups or more per day oolong tea helps in lowering the risk of type 2- diabetes and the richness of polyphonic antioxidants in oolong tea is believed to lower sugar level and also increase insulin sensitivity.
- Improve Gut Health
As we all know an imbalance in gut bacteria can trigger the risk of several health issues including allergies, inflammatory bowel moment, liver disease and metabolic disorder. Having oolong tea may help in promoting the balance of healthy bacteria and also stimulate digestion after eating a high-fat diet.
