Green Tea vs Black Tea: Whats The Difference?
Tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world that one can easily gain access to. 80% of Americans have tea stored up somewhere in their kitchen cupboards. Tea comes in many varieties with endless flavors. Their different varieties usually indicates which one is best for your health.
Green tea vs black tea both are true teas with many varieties that vary in flavor and composition. It’s since believed that traditional differences are a result of different flavors of the same tea genre.
What Is Green Tea?
It is derived from the tea plant known as Camellia sinensis. It’s native to India and China where for centuries has been used for traditional medicine. But presently, it’s been cultivated all over the world from Japan and China to South America and Europe.
Production
All true tea’s are created from the leaves of the same plant. What differentiates them is their production process. One main feature of the green tea is that it doesn’t oxidize during production process.
The leaves of the green tea are harvested from the plant and heated to prevent withering and oxidation. It’s steamed and retain a green hue that is similar to the tea plant itself.
Types And Flavor
There are various factors that influence the flavor, taste and type of green tea. The region where the plant grows, rainfall and the different artisanal production processes contributes to unique flavor and green tea types.
There are two main subsets of the green tea nad that is the one from Japan and the other from China, where some of the best teas are produced.
Chinese Green Tea
China is known to be the largest producers of green tea with tea gardens that spread across the coast and the highlands to the mountains. Tea makers harvest only the youngest leaves and buds to prepare a green tea.
The leaves are dried in varieties of artisanal methods. Most producers dry the leaves just using the sun, while others fry them. The Chinese green tea leaves are almost never steamed.
The dried leaves are styled and packaged. Long Jing, a popular type of Chinese green tea has green teas land at the higher end of the quality and price spectrum.
It’s has a jade color when brewed, and features a nutty and vegetal flavor, and offers a smooth finish.
It was the tea served to Richard Nixon in 1972 during his historic visit to Communist China. The gunpowder green tea is also another popular green tea.
It was first produced by the Tang dynasty and it is one of the few Chinese green teas that are steamed, not pan fired. It produces a slightly minty flavor when it’s leef pellets are placed in boiling water.
Japanese Green Tea
Most producers prefer to steam dry the tea leaves rather than pan fry them in Japan. They are grown in shades in Japan to help preserve chlorophyll that gives these teas a vibrant green hue.
They contain high concentrations of amino acids that lend an umami flavor to the tea. Japanese green tea offers a rich body and satiny feel with savory and sweet flavors.
What Is Black Tea?
This tea is made using the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. It comes from three tea-producing countries: China, India and Sri Lanka. They are mostly cultivated in the Anhui and Yunnan provinces.
The main difference between black tea and green tea can be seen in their production process. The green tea is not oxidized but the black tea undergoes the most complete oxidation process of the true teas.
Their leaves are harvested and then withered to reduce moisture content. Depending on the producer and type of tea, black tea leaves are rolled either by hand or using a machine.
They are then spread out on large trays where oxygen turns the leaves black and the final step in the production process. Their leaves are fired in ovens to stop the oxidation process and are packaged for sale.
Types Of Black Tea
There are several types of black tea and they include:
Indian Black Teas
This type of black tea offers wide flavor profile that ranges from malty to floral.
Ceylon Black Tea
They vary depending on which region it grows in and offers a strong, rich flavor profile that boasts hints of chocolate and spice.
Chinese Black Tea
Benefits Of Green Tea vs Black Tea
Although both green tea and black tea are processed from the same plant, they do have some slight differences between them. This also includes the health benefits you get from both teas.
Both teas are a healthful addition to your diet, but, they do offer slightly different health benefits for example…
1.) protecting your heart
They are both rich for protective antioxidants called polyphenols and contains a much higher amount of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), whereas black tea is a rich source of theaflavins.
Recent records shows that people who drink 1–3 cups per day had a 19% and 36% reduced risk of heart attack and stroke.
That’s why health practitioners advise that you drink at least 3 cups of black tea to reduce your risk of having heart diseases by 11%.
2.) May boost brain function
It is known that green tea has less caffeine than black tea. And Caffeine stimulates your nervous system by blocking the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine.
They boost alertness, mood, vigilance, reaction time, and short-term recall. It also promotes the release of the mood-enhancing hormones dopamine and serotonin.
It’s known that the green and black tea are great alternatives to coffee for those who want a mood lift without coffee’s telltale restlessness.
3.) Green tea is rich in the powerful antioxidant EGCG
Green tea are good source of antioxidant epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) that is considered to be the most powerful and likely responsible for many of green tea’s health benefits.
EGCG in green tea can inhibit the multiplication of cancer cells and cause cancer cell death. EGCG may reduce the harmful effects of amyloid plaques.
Recent studies also show that EGCG-containing drink had prolonged swimming times before exhaustion, compared with those drinking water.
4.) Black tea contains beneficial theaflavins
Theaflavins seem to offer many health benefits and that theaflavins can lower the risk of plaque formation in blood vessels by reducing inflammation and increasing the availability of nitric oxide, which helps your blood vessels dilate.
They also reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Green Tea vs Black Tea Weight Loss
When it come’s to losing weight, Green tea is usually the best choice. The green tea contains almost no calories, this can help by boosting your metabolism and improve your body’s ability to burn fat.
However black tea does contain strong antioxidants that can also help regulate cholesterol levels, improve your heart health, boost immunity and can also help with weight loss.
But with the compounds in green tea that increase levels of hormones, that can break down fat in fat cells, and as a result you lose weight, this makes green tea the best choice.
Conclusion
Green and black tea are slightly different, but, they both provide excellent health benefits, including weight loss, heart health and digestion.
Green tea does contain more powerful antioxidants, and is great for weight loss. While black tea has it’s own benefits, and can reduce your risk of having heart diseases.
Green tea does has less caffeine than black tea, but they both contain L-theanine, that’s known to have a calming effect.
Overall both teas are an excellent choice for your diet, it really comes down to personal preference and which one you prefer, green tea or black!
