Water may be life, but a close second is tea. The brew is a powerhouse when it comes to lowering inflammation, thanks to its potent antioxidants. Inflammation is linked with many chronic health conditions, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Luckily, tea has plenty of health benefits, especially these anti-inflammatory teas. And when you want to try to lower inflammation in your body through tea, you don't have to stick to one variety.
There are six anti-inflammatory teas—from green to black, ginger to chamomile—that can help your body put up its disease-fighting defenses. Here's what tea to sip to help you stay healthy.
1. Black Tea May Lengthen Your Life
Go ahead and take it black: while black tea may not stand out as an exciting varietal, it's great when it comes to avoiding an early death. In a 2022 Annals of Internal Medicine study, researchers found that people who drank two or more cups of black tea daily had a 9% to 12% lower risk for dying during the 11-year study period. The fermentation process that turns green tea leaves to black produces different flavonoids, called theaflavins and thearubigins. While the reason isn't well understood, flavonoids may reduce inflammation, thereby improving glucose metabolism and insulin function, which is linked to better health.
2. Green Tea Keeps Your Heart Strong
With its lower level of caffeine, you may be more comfortable sipping green tea throughout the day. The green brew, which comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, offers important catechins (powerful plant compounds that are responsible for its health benefits). The one you know best, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) has been studied for its possible protective effect against heart disease and cancer.
3. Peppermint Tea Has Anti-Cancer Properties
The perk-you-up plant may be an invigorating sip, but it, too, quashes inflammation that can be linked to cancer. Peppermint leaves pack anti-inflammatory compounds, primarily eriocitrin as well as rosmarinic acid and hesperidin. That said, you're most likely familiar with menthol, which is what leaves you with a cooling sensation when you sip mint tea. While more research needs to be done—particularly clinical studies in humans—these compounds are known to prevent inflammation and show some anticancer promise in lab studies. Certainly, that doesn't make the tea a treatment for cancer, but it doesn't hurt to include peppermint tea in an overall healthy diet.
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4. Ginger Tea Protects Your Gut
It's time to take ginger out of your stir-fry and into your teacup. The rhizome is packed with phenols, including compounds like gingerols and shogaols. And beyond being a tummy soother for nausea and indigestion, a 2022 Frontiers in Nutrition review suggests these powerful antioxidants may also protect against neurological conditions including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease by reducing oxidative stress. Drink a cup after a tough workout—ginger may help reduce post-exercise inflammation.
5. Turmeric May Treat Arthritis
If ever there was a spice that was trendy, turmeric is it. Turmeric's meteoric rise to superfood fame has some basis in science—especially when it comes to relieving pain in conditions like arthritis. The main player in turmeric is curcumin, the compound that gives the spice its stunning golden hue. In a 2020 review in Frontiers in Pharmacology, researchers cite curcumin's powerful anti-inflammatory effects. The only catch—curcumin isn't readily absorbed by the body, and you need a higher dose (about 1,000 mg of curcumin) to see benefits. However, adding turmeric to your diet in all its forms, including tea, can be a smart part of your anti-inflammatory diet plan to fight pain.
6. Chamomile May Soothe Your Belly
Perhaps known best as a before-bed drink, this caffeine-free tea is calming in multiple ways. Superstar chamomile chemicals chamazulene, alpha-bisabolol and apigenin contribute to chamomile tea's anti-inflammatory properties. When you get down to the nitty-gritty, chamomile functions like a COX-2 inhibitor—a type of anti-inflammatory drug that's prescribed to treat pain. Turns out a cup at night may be the ultimate relaxer for the body and mind. Chamomile tea may also soothe diarrhea, stomach ulcers, nausea and gas.
