Peter Cheung :    It is true: that tea has a lot of antioxidant.   

That antioxidant can clean up oxidative chemicals (ROS) which is produced by our body's metabolism. In response to ROS, our body can also produce its own antioxidants.

e.g. During exercise, our body produces ROS. After exercise, in response to the increased ROS, our body produces antioxidant. So don't drink tea or orange juice right after exercise because it will minimize the benefit of exercise.

But too much tea is not good. Why?

I was also surprised when Micheal Quon who is from Hong Kong and is at University of Maryland showed the negative effect of too much tea. Five and more cups of tea per day was too much according to MQ. I am sure the tea addicts during the atomic bomb exposure drank more than 5 cups. My guess is that you will need a lot of antioxidants when you are exposed to that scale of injury. But normally you don't. So be moderate.

When we get older, our capacity to make antioxdant is probably less. I need more time to recover from exercise and I cannot go to the gym everyday. Rest and sleep are other ways to get rid of ROS.

Stella Tse :         There are so many kinds of tea, e.g. white, red, black, green, etc. Any thoughts on what to take best?

Peter Cheung :    Most studies are done with green tea. I assume that the fermentation process destroys some of the antioxidant chemicals.

I have read about Cha Tao. I didn't pay much attention to it. Just pour in hot water, wait and drink. Now I believe getting rid of the first tea will get rid of some of residual pesticides. Now I also believe not to drink old tea---tea that has been soaking with tea leaves for a long time.

Tea leaves probably have a lot of oxalates which will come out slowly and will form kidney stones with calcium.

I will talk about kidney stone later! Anyone has the experience?

Bob Choi :          Green tea is my favorite... I like it even in ice-cream! The trick in preparing green tea is to use water at around 80 degrees (no boiling water please!) and drain out within one minute.

- To be continued -

Original Article : 茶葉與『癌症』的故事