Tag Archives: Tea

The Popular Drink Tea


Tea, the second-most consumed drink in the world, comes from a versatile plant Camellia sinensis. All types of teas including Black, Green, Oolong, White, and Pu’erh are extracted from a sub-tropical, evergreen plant. The plant that produces tea is native to Asia, but is now grown in many parts of the world. The tea plant properly grows in loose, deep soil at high altitudes, and in sub-tropical climates.

Tea is popularly consumed all over the world, but China is considered to be the largest consumer of tea, at 1.6 billion pounds a year. India, United States, Turkey, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are also high tea consuming countries. A study shows that the world’s tea consumption has annually elevated by 4.5% to 5.5 million tons over the past few decades.

The first time that tea was ever mentioned in writing was in Chinese documents about 4700 years ago. Today, the tea bush grows in various parts of the world including India, Sri Lanka, China, and Africa. History tells us that tea was probably first invented in China in 2737 B.C.E. The discovery of tea was accidentally made by the Emperor Shen Nong – an intelligent ruler and scientist. Once tea became a household name in China, a Japanese Buddhist monk – Saicho introduced tea in Japan. From there, tea eventually was introduced in the West and it wasn’t until the 17th century that people started enjoying the hot beverage.

By the early 1700s, the East Indian Company settled in India as a trading power and began selling tea. In this way, tea became accustomed to the natives of India and gradually became their favorite beverage.

Though not high in nutritional value, tea contains good amounts of magnesium and potassium. It has lower amount of caffeine than does coffee. Both green and black teas are high in antioxidants which help prevent the growth of cancer cells in the body.

The author of this article Amita Vadlamudi is an avid reader and a blogger on many varied and interesting subjects. Amita Vadlamudi’s other articles on food and nutrition may be found at her Wix website.

About Caffeine

Caffeine is a natural stimulant and the most common drug used around the world. It is found in tea, coffee, and cocoa plants. It works by stimulating the brain and allows you to stay alert by preventing the onset of tiredness.

Historians first tracked the brewed tea containing caffeine as far back as 2737 B.C. However, according to a Chinese legend, the Chinese emperor Shennong accidentally discovered tea when tea leaves fell into a pot of boiling water and resulted in a fragrant and restorative drink! The earliest known credible evidence of coffee drinking or knowledge of coffee appears in the middle of the fifteenth century in the Sufi monasteries of the Yemeni southern Arabia.

Where is caffeine found?

Caffeine can be used in a variety of foods and beverages; however, it is derived from a few main sources such as tea leaves, cocoa beans, kola nuts, and coffee beans.

Some of the most common foods and drinks that contain caffeine are:

Coffee:

This is perhaps the most commonly consumed form of caffeine. An 8 ounce of coffee contains approximately  100 milligrams of caffeine. However, the serving size and the brand of coffee can also make a huge difference in the amount of caffeine present.

Soft drinks:

Both diet drinks and soft drinks tend to contain substantial amounts of caffeine, a 12-ounce soft drink contains around 23 to 69 milligrams of caffeine depending on the brand.

Tea:

Some brewed teas, especially black and green tea contain certain levels of caffeine. An 8 ounce of black tea contains  35 milligrams of caffeine whereas 25 milligrams of caffeine is found in 8 ounces of green tea.

Chocolate:

Since cocoa beans are used to make chocolate, chocolate bars too can contain some caffeine! In general, the higher the level of cocoa the more caffeine there will be. An  1 ounce chocolate bar contains   approximately  15 milligrams of caffeine.

Effects on health

Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, it is an effect that possibly starts 15 minutes after the ingestion of caffeine and lasts up to six hours. The main effect of caffeine is increased alertness and reduced sleepiness but the drug can also cause some problems.

Excessive intake of caffeine can lead to long or short-term complications. Too much caffeine is known to produce certain side effects such as insomnia, difficulty concentrating, muscle tremors, fast heartbeat, heartburn, nervousness, irritability etc.

 

Amita Vadlamudi, the author of this article is an avid reader of non-fiction books and author of articles on many topics. Some of Ms. Vadlamudi’s other articles may be found on her Slideshare and Behance websites.