study
You should really drink that much tea a day
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A study shows that drinking tea can improve our intestinal health. You can find out how many cups of which tea you should drink here.
For some time now, our intestines have been receiving a lot of attention when it comes to living healthy for a long time. And rightly so: it plays a role in the development of various diseases, for example, and a healthy intestinal flora also helps us to achieve or maintain our desired weight. British researchers from the so-called Tea Advisory Panel (TAP) took this as an opportunity to to study how drinking tea affects our gut. For this they compared in one meta-analysis Data from 24 studies combined.
You should drink this much tea every day – according to your intestines
The result: Four to five cups of tea a day are ideal for your intestinal flora. Because this amount increases the number of certain good intestinal bacteria, the so-called bifidobacteria: They improve digestion and the immune system by displacing pathogens.
The polyphenols in tea are responsible for the growth of good bacteria. These are secondary plant substances that have an antioxidant effect and protect us from dangerous free radicals. These are caused, for example, by stress and harmful environmental influences and promote diseases such as cancer or rheumatism. Previous studies have also shown that a high intake of polyphenols can reduce the risk of cancer and diabetes. Furthermore, polyphenols have an anti-inflammatory effect.
How do polyphenols work in the gut?
Polyphenols are relatively large molecules – so they cannot be absorbed from the upper part of the digestive tract, but only develop their effect in the large intestine, feeding the good bacteria there. As a result, these produce certain metabolic messenger substances called metabolites, which enter the brain via the blood and affect its health. The metabolites are also considered possible factors for depression, obesity and various autoimmune diseases, but the research on this is still very thin.
Study author Dr. Timothy Bond told Edinburgh News about the research: “Everyone knows that fiber or probiotics can help convert gut bacteria into cheaper strains. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that a simple cup of tea can also be effective.” Incidentally, which tea varieties achieve the best results was not part of the analysis. But: Especially green and black teas as well as oolong tea are considered to contain a lot of polyphenols.