Health Benefits of Tea

Abstract

Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage throughout the world, after water. “Tea” is referred to the aromatic beverage prepared by incubating cured leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis with hot or boiling water. The origin of tea has remained a mystery and has been associated with legends in the Chinese history. Under experimental conditions in laboratory, tea has been reported to act as an anti-cancer agent in various models of lung, pancreas, liver, breast, fore-stomach, oesophagus, duodenum, colon, and skin cancers induced by chemical carcinogens. Tea also contains a wide range of antioxidants and has been found to possess several others health benefits. This chapter summarizes the history behind its use, various health benefits, and current state of scientific literature and epidemiological evidence of its usefulness.