White Tea to Relieve Autumn Dryness
As the weather cools off, teas with a nice roast such as Wuyi Yancha Oolongs start to become more attractive, but many consider white tea to actually be the best choice for autumn tea drinking.
The declining Yang Qi in the environment not only leads to cooler but also dryer conditions. In summer we can use the ample Yang Qi to help treat imbalances associated with cold and damp. Now in autumn, it is important to maintain health and balance to prepare for the winter which is the body’s “storage period.” Combating “autumn dryness” (qiu zao 秋燥) becomes a primary concern for the yangsheng lifestyle enthusiast as the lungs are vulnerable to dryness and liver fire can also become an issue.
Autumn is associated with the lungs and the color white. The lungs are delicate organs and are susceptible to the cold and dryness of autumn. This is also considered an issue from the perspective of modern medicine which explains that breathing dry air can lead to respiratory ailments, and the drying of mucus in the sinuses inhibits our ability to fight off infection.
According to Chinese medicine, there is the saying that, “white moistens the lungs” (bai se run fei 白色润肺). So in addition to eating the white foods recommended for autumn, drinking white tea is also considered helpful in this regard.
Like green tea, white tea is also loaded with catechins, a type of polyphenol that acts as an antioxidant within the body. Polyphenols may help to relax blood vessels and boost immunity, and also may be protective against cancer, among other health benefits 1, 2, 3. White tea should be drunk in moderation though, and preferably earlier in the day. Contrary to popular belief, it often does have plenty of caffeine.
When selecting a white tea we should also consider that there are aged and unaged white teas. Unaged (fresh) white teas are good for removing dryness and clearing internal heat, and so fresh white teas are preferable for the more “hot and dry” conditions of early autumn. Aged white teas, on the other hand, are warmer in nature, remove dryness, and have a calming effect. So aged white teas are more suitable for the “cold and dry” conditions which become prevalent in late autumn.
I’m appreciating aged white tea more than ever right now as I’ve been enjoying a Gaoshan Gushu White tea. This white tea is made from the ancient tea trees (“gushu”) of the Gaoshan village which is a famous tea village in Yunnan Province, China known for its terroir for puer teas. There is definitely something very special about the qi of these teas (cha qi 茶气) made from “gushu” – ancient trees that have grown to be large and have accumulated the qi of their surroundings for many, sometimes hundreds, of years. The aging also seems to modulate the effects of the cha qi and smooth and mellow it out. Tea in general is known to encourage smooth, flowing qi. For beginner neigong practitioners who have not felt much internal qi sensation during practice, it can be helpful to occasionally drink (in moderation) a tea with a high-quality cha qi before practice to see how this modulates their felt experience.
References
1. Ginter, E., Simko, V. 2012: Plant polyphenols in prevention of heart disease. doi: 10.4149/bll_2012_105.
2. Khurana, S., Venkataraman, K., Hollingsworth, A., Piche, M., and Tai, T. C., 2023: Polyphenols: Benefits to the Cardiovascular System in Health and in Aging. doi: 10.3390/nu5103779.
3. Carter, O., Dashwood, R. H., Wang, R., ashwood, W. M., Orner, G. A., Fischer, K. A., Löhr, C. V., Pereira, C. B., Bailey, G. S., Williams, D. E., 2007: Comparison of white tea, green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, and caffeine as inhibitors of PhIP-induced colonic aberrant crypts. doi: 10.1080/01635580701308182.
4. Sijin, X., 2023: Drink white tea to relieve autumn dryness, this is how you should drink white tea in autumn! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0dgkvTkQh7QN7lwcLcfC5g.
