Tea Leaves or Tea Bags: Which one's the healthier option?

Tea Leaves or Tea Bags: Which one's the healthier option?

Are you a crazy tea fan? Do you seek pleasure by drinking tea, or are you drinking it for some health benefits? Before continuing, you must know the benefits of both loose leaf and tea bags because they have their own pros and cons for everyone.

The fact that you drink a brewed loose leaf tea or a premade teabag matters a lot. It brings in the biggest difference between the two types. For instance, both black tea and green tea are obtained from the same plant, Camellia Sinesis. However, black tea undergoes the process of fermentation, and the compounds are altered.

It is very easy and convenient to grab a box of ready to drink tea bags and dip one or two well into a teapot. Or you can directly dip it in the mug too. However, tea is a very personal choice for every individual. Do you any idea about what science has to say about your brew?

There are naturally many tea consumption benefits as it helps with cognition, improvement of mood, decreased risk of heart disease, and diabetes.

After researching about the micronutrients of each type of tea, it has been found that green tea is the healthiest option out of all. It has more antioxidants and less caffeine. Now green teas are also available in two forms- loose leaves and tea bags. 

Usually, people prefer having loose leaf tea at home and tea bags at offices because they are easier and quicker to prepare. Although both these forms consist of the same components, they react differently when exposed to heat.

Tea consists of micronutrients like magnesium, fluoride, zinc. Thus, tea benefits are credited to three other major bioactive compounds named catechins, L-theanine, and caffeine. 

Dr. Anju Sood from Banglore, India states, "If you looking for an authentic way of having tea, I would suggest that you should always prefer a tea bag and not leaves because the excessive brewing can raise the pH levels of the tea causing several health problems.”

Hence, the benefits of tea depend upon its brewing time. When you dip your tea bag in hot water for about 15 to 30 seconds, you'll only be getting a fraction of bioactive compounds that you would have got after brewing it for a longer time. A study proves that the more you brew your tea, the more bioactive compounds you'll be taking in, making the tea less healthy for yourself and a stronger taste and aura.

Tea Leaves are a combination of broken and unbroken leaves, but tea bags are well prepared and consist of smaller tea leave pieces that eventually enhance extraction. Amusingly, brewing tea can remove the full bioactive compounds, but it can also influence the tea's pH level. Low pH (acid) levels of water extract bioactive compounds better than high pH levels of water. It's always nice to add a few drops of lemon juice to neutralize your tea (whether you're drinking black tea or green tea).

So which form of tea are you sipping on from tomorrow onwards?