Within 50 minutes of finishing their speeches, the tea drinkers’ stress hormones sank by half, compared to a 27% drop in the imitation tea bunch. That’s a pretty impressive result, particularly since stress is a major health antagonist. Unmanaged stress can stifle your immune system, ramp up your hunger, and cause you to stow away excess calories in your belly, a location that ups your risk for everything from heart disease to type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Tea already has an amazing track record as a rich source of antioxidants, it’s nearly calorie free (just 2 measly calories per cup) and it’s cheap—a box of 100 black tea bags costs less than $5, so it’s one of the best bangs for your buck at the supermarket.
I love it unsweetened but if you can’t stomach it plain, add a splash of 100% citrus juice (orange, pink grapefruit, tangerine) instead of sugar. Another recent study found that this combo boosts antioxidant absorption by up to 13 times.
Here’s a tea trivia trio:
- Tea is the most popular beverage in the world excluding water
- White, green, and black teas all come from the same plant
- Loose tea accounts for only two percent of tea sales in the U.S.
More ways to kick back and unwind:
How to survive a stress storm
Find the best zen for your personality
Real-life stress survival guide
