Green Tea 绿茶: A Refreshing Spring and Summer Beverage with Health Benefits

As we transition into summer we reach a point in the year in which many green teas have been freshly harvested and processed and are just now hitting the market. Green tea is a healthy, delicious, and refreshing beverage that is especially suitable during the warmer months. 

I have met many people who think that they don’t like green tea, but in fact have never tried anything other than green tea that is mass-produced, low-quality, and generally stale. It’s one thing to find high-quality green tea, but perhaps more challenging is getting it fresh! It’s best to buy it as soon after harvest as possible from a vendor that takes care to have it shipped quickly and keeps it sealed and refrigerated. If you can get green tea like that it smells and tastes amazing and has better qi (cha qi 茶气). 

I once asked Gengmenpai’s Dr Wu why he always drinks green tea. While green tea is such a commonly drunk beverage in China (often prepared with the tea leaves floating freely in a glass), and I’m sure that the particular tea that he was often drinking (Huangshan Mao Feng) had something to do with it being one of the most famous teas from the region he lived in, he answered by citing the high catechin content in green tea as the reason why he drank it. Green tea certainly is known for its health benefits from both a modern western scientific perspective and traditional Chinese health perspective. Enjoying it during the warmer months also just feels right. 

Chinese Medicine and Yangsheng Perspective

Although it is probably considered more mild and therefore arguably not to be grouped with “medicinal herbs,” Green tea would be categorized along with herbs that clear heat and purge fire. It is associated with bitter and sweet tastes, cool in nature, and enters the stomach, heart, and lung meridians. Below are some notes on its health properties:

•  Clear heat and detoxify: legendary Chinese doctor Li Shizhen wrote in the Bencao Gangmu 本草纲目 that tea can “clear fire from the six meridians” 清六经火 giving it a wide range of heat clearing application
• Relieve restlessness (fidgets), promote salivation, quench thirst
• Clear the head and vision – tea can relieve headaches, improve eyesight, and treat wind-heat in the liver meridian 
• Treat dysentery caused by heat and toxicity, it harmonizes the stomach, descends rebellious stomach qi, relieves diarrhea
•  Alternatively it can treat constipation, promote diuresis, remove stagnant food, remove toxins
• Dispel dampness
• Refresh your mind: tea has a long and interwoven history with Chan Buddhism 禅 (Zen), and it is well-known that monks used tea as a way to gently promote a more alert mind and stave off states of sloth/stupor that could arise during long meditation sessions. The saying is 茶禅一味 “Tea and Chan are of one taste.”

Modern Scientific Perspective

Most have probably heard of green tea’s health benefits from a modern perspective – some highlights below:

• Green tea contains catechins – polyphenolic compounds known also as flavanols. These are antioxidants that are known to offer protection against various degenerative diseases such as cancer. 
• Prevent diabetes – Some studies show that green tea may prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity.  
• May lower the risk of osteoporosis
• Protects against cognitive decline
• Lowers LDL and total cholesterol
• Improves memory – due to the L-theanine content
• May lower the risk of stroke
• Reduces blood pressure – due to its high antioxidant content that decreases inflammation and dilates blood vessels

Shifting to a Healthier Lifestyle

Perhaps an overlooked benefit to tea drinking is the overall improvement to one’s diet it can bring when replacing the habit of drinking a less-healthy beverage with tea. There are many great tasting teas and tea is also embedded in a rich culture of connoisseurs, social activities, and the art of “gong fu cha.” It is often easiest to cut out unhealthy habits by replacing them with something else – consider swapping out sugary soft-drinks and bar hopping with tea and the overall shift towards a healthy lifestyle is even greater!

Use Moderation

As with anything, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. Tea needs to be drunk in moderation. For some, green tea can be too irritating to the stomach. Those with stomach qi deficiency might want to avoid it. In general, it is best not to drink tea on an empty stomach. Tea also has caffeine and so it is best to drink it early in the day and to not drink too much. You have to use your best judgment – if you feel wired and jittery after drinking tea then you overdid it. If you are having trouble sleeping or getting tremors as you are falling asleep in bed, this can be another sign that you had too much, too late in the day. Even if you don’t seem to have strong symptoms like these, tea could still be causing you to get a lower quality of sleep and/or be taxing your adrenals without you noticing right away. So I recommend striving to drink only a moderate amount, don’t over-steep it, and try not to drink tea later than early afternoon if possible. 

Tea Recommendations

There are many great Chinese green teas and several always find a spot in the “top 10” lists. Probably the most well-known Chinese tea is Longjing (Dragonwell), which is an excellent green tea that has both a refreshing and a slight roasted, nutty quality to it. I also really like Taiping Houkui (a favorite from the Huangshan region of both Master Jiang Feng and his master, the monk Xuan Kong), Biluo Chun, Anji Bai Cha, and a lesser known green tea called Clouds and Mist that is made by a well-known Wuyi Cliff Tea tea master. It is best to buy green tea soon after it has been harvested and put on the market (April – July is usually a good time) and from a vendor that knows tea and knows what they are doing. For folks in the US, I can’t recommend Trident Booksellers and Cafe enough – a hidden gem that I still think is the best place to buy tea in the states, considering selection, quality, and cost. Check out their green teas here.

For those outside of the US, you might try and order some Longjing directly from Trident’s source for authentic Longjing tea. Also, as mentioned above, Wuyi Origin, known for their award-winning Wuyi Cliff Oolongs, also makes a green tea called Clouds and Mist which is still one of my favorites to this day, with its rich flavor and aroma, and a great daily drinker considering the affordability.  

References

American Dragon https://www.americandragon.com/Individualherbsupdate/LuCha.html

Beneficial effects of green tea: A literature review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855614/

10 Green Tea Benefits (studies linked within) https://www.health.com/nutrition/benefits-green-tea