Lipton, Bigeolow, Arizona Green Tea Not Healthy?

by Chris
(WA state)

I've been drinking bagged green tea for the past year. I've read the tea reviews on the site and I understand that I should completely switch to loose tea.

Does this mean that the Lipton green tea and the Bigelow/Arizona bagged green tea I've been using is next to worthless?

Answer:

Chris, I am not an expert in bagged tea so I can't answer this question with 100% certainty. But anecdotal evidence seems to suggest this is the case (tea bags have little health benefits) and this comes down to two things:

- The higher the tea quality, the more healthy compounds the tea leaves contain: theanine, antioxidants etc.

- These compounds are extremely susceptible to environmental degradation.

For loose green tea, this means anything exposed to ambient for more than 3 months are sufficient to cause significant nutrition loss.

What this implies is that tea bags will have little value just considering the storage and "particles" factors alone, not even considering the type of (low quality) leaves the manufacturers use in the first place.

I suppose at the end of the day it comes back to what you feel afterwards. Tea should have a very refreshing and relaxing effects on the mind and body.

Further readings at

Loose Green Tea Versus Tea Bag

I hope this helps.

Julian