Eating green tea - Is It Healthy?

by Tony Stark
(Brooklyn)

Can you eat the green tea leaves in the tea bag and get the same benefits of drinking the tea?

Answer:

Tony

The healthiest way to enjoy tea is to brew and drink the liquor. When you drink tea infusion, you are protecting yourself from harmful insoluble solids that may be present in the leaves (such as synthetic pesticide DDT).

Matcha green tea sellers claim that when you consume tea powder, you are maximising its health benefits. I do not agree, and here is why.

Here is their argument: Green tea is so healthy, you should consume it whole. Since only a small proportion of tea leaves ever dissolve in water, the best way to ingest green tea is either to eat it, or to take matcha powder.

This argument is faulty for the following reasons:

- The most important nutritional components in tea leaves are catechins, caffeine and theanine. These nutrients are flavorful as well as soluble, which explains why rich tasting teas often contain a high concentration of these compounds.

- In the Far East, green tea leaves are infused at least 3 times, until the resulting tea tastes bland. So even though you are not eating the entire leaves, you are not missing out much.

- The insoluble part of tea leaves consists mostly of proteins, fibers and carbohydrates. They have limited nutritional value. (Some Chinese tea experts even say they can be harmful.)

- Tea infusion is healthier than eating a whole leaf, because tea plants accumulate contaminants from soil and water. These contaminants are usually much less soluble in water.

Thus drinking tea protects you from environmental impurities. When you are taking a lot of tea daily, this is important.

I hope this helps.

Julian