The origin of tea can be traced back to over 4000 years ago in China. According to Chinese legend the emporer Shen Nong, a scholar and medical expert discovered tea in 2737 B.C. One day while he was boiling water under a tea tree, a leaf from the tree dropped into the water and Shen Nung decided to try the brew. The drink was found to be not only invigorating but also to be a rather powerful medication. The emporer immediatedly placed Green tea on his list of medicinal herbs.

The three main types of tea are green tea, oolong tea and black tea. All come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. Herbal and fruit teas come from plants and fruits and are not tea in the strictest sense of the word. The difference between green, oolong and black tea is due to the method by which the tea is produced. With black tea the Camellia sinensis leaves, after they are plucked are left out long enough for them to fully oxidize before being dried. In the case of oolong tea the leaves are only partially oxidized and dried, but in the production of green tea the leaves are steamed, rolled and dried before the oxidization process can begin. Thus with Green tea a more significant part of the nutritional and enzyme content of the leaf is left intact.

The benefits of Green tea to one's health has been increasingly demonstrated by modern scientific research. Many of these health benefits come from the fact that tea contains high levels of antioxidants called polyphenols or flavonoids. These compounds are most prevalent in green and white teas, but are also present in varying degrees in Oolongs and black teas. Green tea flavonoids show antioxidant activity. Antioxidants impair the ability of free radical cells to harm the molecules that make up our bodies. We all know that fruit and vegetables are good sources of antioxidants but recent

About the Author: Lorraine Bevere is the webmaster of FOG Tea, Inc. which is a premier source of information about tea. For more information, go to: http://fogtea.com