Health benefits: Chinese vs. Japanese

[skilfautdire]

I'm reading about the health benefits from drinking green, as per the Hibiki-an site. I've heard also before that Japanese green tea was better for health, because it is steamed and thus locks in the tea the good things. What would then be the difference between Japanese and Chinese green teas ? The Wikipedia chart shows that for green tea there are two processes at the beginning: steaming and panning. Chinese green teas would then be panned, isn't it ? Or some of them also steamed ?

Basically the question is, are Chinese plain green teas (not oolongs) as good for the health as what is reported for Japanese green teas ?

Thanks.

[Chip]

Most Chinese greens are pan fired, or "fried." Some are steamed and I believe they invented the steaming process.

Most Japanese greens are steamed, a process borrowed and then advanced to incredible levels by the Japanese. Guricha is pan fired. Also most sencha will receive a discretionary roasting at the end which I think will impart sweetness.

I am not going to site any studies because for the most part I do not trust them, often biased or flawed. I will site my own experience whach I have mentioned before ... maybe too often?

I used to drink mostly Chinese teas for years ... blacks oolongs and greens in that order, but had some health issues that were nagging. I rejected established medical advise that would have eliminated just about every food and drink I loved from my diet (including tea, spicy foods, dark chocolate, oh my!), and would have meant a daily medicinal regimen.

TBH, I lacked confidence with several medical professionals I had been dealing with at the time. For instance, there were simple things they could have told me that I found on my own that were huge helps.

I also did a lot of research on my own at the time. The only alterations to my diet included eliminating peppermint from my diet completely, adding aloe extract to my diet for a brief period ... and switching to Japanese green tea (still drink other teas, but around 80% are Japanese greens).

Around 4 years ago, I began to drink predominently Japanese greens, mostly sencha. I almost immediately began to "heal." And I have continued with the Japanese greens.

Lastly, I used to get severe sinus infections every year, but not one since I began to drink Japanese greens ... coincidence?

In the final analysis, I am a believer that Japanese greens were instrumental in my recovery and continued health. However, I do not believe this is necessarily universal, just worked for me, my conditions, my body's physiology at that point in time.

[Victoria]

I believe that all tea is good for you. Especially if you have not been consuming it, or consuming something else that is not as good.

Think of tea as you would eating vegetables. I would say matcha then would be as eating raw veggies, consuming the whole plant. Japanese steamed greens are like steamed veggies, and Chinese fried, like stir fry.

All are good, but you can see from the analogy which is probably better for you. The more you process tea, the farther away from a fresh vegetable (plant) it gets. If you prefer the taste of Chinese greens, then you will drink more, thus adding a benefit. Tea is not a miracle cure for health, but drinking it can make you healthier, especially if you give up something else. The health benefit in Japanese vs. Chinese is probably slight to negligible and all depends on so many factors that you can read a zillion articles about. But the number one thing is finding your enjoyment thereby consistently drinking and enjoying tea!

[Domn]

I am huge fan of sencha, which is representing 90% of all of my consumed tea. I cant say it is cure like Chip said, but it definitely help me regain health back after several minor health problems. I could say that it improved my skin and overall health status, but i wont draw correlations.
IMHO i think that Japanese teas are more "healthy" because Japan can provide more healthy environment than china. Also restrictions are tighter and inspections are more frequent. I just believe that environment plays major roll in this story. But what do i know, i am just a student for now...

[Margules]

I cant say it is cure like Chip said, but it definitely help me regain health back after several minor health problems.

So you can't say it's a cure, but you can definitely say that it cured you?

IMHO i think that Japanese teas are more "healthy" because Japan can provide more healthy environment than china.

This isn't an opinion. An opinion is something like "I like the color red".

"Foods that are red are more healthy than foods that are other colors" is a scientific claim, for which you should be expected to provide evidence.

"In my honest opinion, I think that foods that are red are more healthy than other foods because..." is complete nonsense.


On to the subject of comparative health benefits:

Here is a list of health claims related to drinking tea that have actually been legitimately studied:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/green- ... N=evidence

The references used for that article can be found here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/green- ... references

As you will notice, there isn't really strong evidence for any health benefit from drinking green tea in general. Results have been mixed at best. While that doesn't mean that there is definitely no benefit, it stands to reason that we are a ways away from having any meaningful information regarding a comparison of the health benefits of teas from a specific source.

I'm guessing that a lot of people will say that steaming is a healthier method of preparation, because we are all taught that steaming is a healthy cooking method. The thing is, the reason for that is the fact that it does not require adding oil, and leaches fewer nutrients from vegetables than boiling. The Chinese Pan firing method does not add oil or calories to tea either, so this really isn't a issue.

Honestly though, you should drink tea because you like the way it tastes, and because it is a zero calorie replacement for sugary drinks like soda or juice.

If you are counting on tea to help you overcome any specific medical concern, you should instead seek the advice of your doctor, as they should be able to point you towards a much more reliable course of action.

[Chip]

If you are counting on tea to help you overcome any specific medical concern, you should instead seek the advice of your doctor, as they should be able to point you towards a much more reliable course of action.

I can appreciate and basically agree with many of your comments and opinions, tbh, I am definitely more skeptical than I am a believer on the health benefits of tea in general, which is why I simply shared my experiences versus siting bogus studies. There are certainly too many opportinity seekers in the tea industry today.

I know that Chinese medicine can direct certain people away from one type of tea to another tea like blacks to greens ... I could draw a conclusion from this in my case, though I never sought the advice of anyone trained in Chinese medicine (nor will I anytime soon). It was not til I switched from mostly Chinese blacks and oolongs and some Chinese greens to Japanese greens that I experienced all these positive changes, perceived or real or both.

Bottom line, the medical professionals sought to medicate me for the long term, and I rather surprisingly (to me anyway) sought alternatives instead of assuming they were right, studying my condition, etc and learning as much as I could.

Just as there are opportunity seekers in the tea industry who will try to market tea to a naive and vulnerable percentage of society, the medical profession also has opportunity seekers who are anxious to medicate society for the long haul.

[silverneedles]

Bottom line, the medical professionals sought to medicate me for the long term ...

really ? for ulcer (as it seems from your description) ... "long term" - more than 2weeks?

I rather surprisingly ... sought alternatives instead of assuming they were right.

i see nothing wrong with being skeptical & inquiring. but trying to find workarounds for proven treatments, while it may work for simple situations, it likely ends up delaying treatment and complicating the condition in the future.

[beachape]

Why is tea so healthy? Because it keeps you from drinking all that terrible stuff (soda etc).

Also don't worry about the difference of which is healthier Chinese vs Japanese. Drink whichever you feel like. However, never ever buy Chinese batteries. The japanese make way better batteries.

[Chip]

Bottom line, the medical professionals sought to medicate me for the long term ...

really ? for ulcer (as it seems from your description) ... "long term" - more than 2weeks?

I rather surprisingly ... sought alternatives instead of assuming they were right.

i see nothing wrong with being skeptical & inquiring. but trying to find workarounds for proven treatments, while it may work for simple situations, it likely ends up delaying treatment and complicating the condition in the future.

There were some very basic things that the medical pros neglected to tell me that I discovered easily on my own, not "workarounds," but pretty basic stuff.

I will not soon forget this. I will not soon forget the lesson of educating oneself following a possible diagnosis from a medical professional.

[Oni]

One thing I advise you all, if you have any kind of serious medical condition, always ask for a second and third opinion from other doctors, never stick to one, we are humans, most of us have diffrent perspectives and experiences, in my experience trusting only one specialist is a mistake, asking 3 or more can ease the solving of the problem.
I drank last year japanese tea almost every day, I never cought the influenza, and I felt generally better, it is impossible not to notice the change, I urge every skeptic to try, a sencha a day, or gyokuro 2 times a week, a matcha 2 times a week, it is impossible not to notice any diffrence, no need to be scientifical about it, try it, if you feel good and like, you aquired a new good habit.

[Tead Off]

If you are counting on tea to help you overcome any specific medical concern, you should instead seek the advice of your doctor, as they should be able to point you towards a much more reliable course of action.

I can appreciate and basically agree with many of your comments and opinions, tbh, I am definitely more skeptical than I am a believer on the health benefits of tea in general, which is why I simply shared my experiences versus siting bogus studies. There are certainly too many opportinity seekers in the tea industry today.

I know that Chinese medicine can direct certain people away from one type of tea to another tea like blacks to greens ... I could draw a conclusion from this in my case, though I never sought the advice of anyone trained in Chinese medicine (nor will I anytime soon). It was not til I switched from mostly Chinese blacks and oolongs and some Chinese greens to Japanese greens that I experienced all these positive changes, perceived or real or both.

Bottom line, the medical professionals sought to medicate me for the long term, and I rather surprisingly (to me anyway) sought alternatives instead of assuming they were right, studying my condition, etc and learning as much as I could.

Just as there are opportunity seekers in the tea industry who will try to market tea to a naive and vulnerable percentage of society, the medical profession also has opportunity seekers who are anxious to medicate society for the long haul.

I truly believe that the body is a mystery and functions with its own intelligence in spite of what we take as 'knowledge'. Like you, I'm skeptical of all claims. The body is too subjective for a 'one rule fits all' category. If we allow it to function without too much mental interference, it can heal itself with or without tea. I find the question is often the problem rather than finding an answer.

[chrl42]

I think health benefit in tea is far more complex than just 'steam' or 'fry',

if you think health is that important, I urge you to find white tea (which just undergoes a faint steaming, sometimes none) or Puerh, because Big Leaf Variety contains much more nutrition than Small Leaf Variety, or vitamin supplements

[puerhking]

I got my father to start drinking tea. He drinks 50% Japanese greens and 50% oolongs. After several months his cholesterol went from 320 to 200 with no other alteration to his diet. It has remained at 200 for over a year. He is diabetic and was injecting insulin daily...until he started drinking tea. He has never needed to shoot insulin since.

[gingkoseto]

In traditional medication, being healthy doesn't mean choosing one thing to eat over another - unlike nowadays, because they (industries and even some doctors) profit from selling things, they tend to tell you eating a lot of something is healthy for you.

In traditional medication, it's all about eating/drinking things compatible to you, and how much to eat/drink. For example, traditionally it was believed that green tea has more antioxidant and refreshing power than red/black tea, but it's more stimulative to digestive system and nervous system. On the other hand, red/black tea was believed to be milder and with greater warming effects, but with less of other healthy benefits of green tea. So in terms of healthy benefits, it really depends on what your body is like and what you need.

My superficial understanding of some difference between Chinese and Japanese green tea is, Japanese green tea made with steam green method (especially those made with younger leaves) has more antioxidant than most Chinese green but is more stimulative. Which health benefit to take from which tea all depends on your needs, if that matters to you at all (doesn't matter much to me )

[teaisme]

So in terms of healthy benefits, it really depends on what your body is like and what you need.

Agreed. Different teas have different benefits. The quality of the particular tea also plays an important role.

I wouldn't draw any concrete conclusions by just listening to what the Mayo Clinic has to say.

All the science aside, I believe it is important (and often not done anymore) to be in tune with your body and listen to what it has to say. I know that sounds very vague, and I can't really explain it well, but just from my personal life I believe I have heard it tell me to make certain adjustments, certain small changes here and there like chip says, and the outcome has surpassed my expectations.

Like some of you who are skeptical of the benefits of tea, I am sometimes skeptical of many of the medications being pumped out today.
Of course this varies from illness to illness, medication to medication, but I question the safety and long term effects that many popularly prescribed medications here in the US have on the human body. It seems almost everyday I come across some newly published article on the newly discovered side effects of certain medications, do you ever notice how often warning labels change on medications? Many medications today are still in their infancy, with less then 50 years under their belts.

I live in an area of the US where almost every family I know has at least one member on some form of medication. Sometimes, the whole family is on different meds. Its awful, and makes me mad to see how quickly and easily meds are pushed and accepted without even a second thought. While at the same time preventative measures (often those small things), are totally ignored. And people are oblivious, standing around wandering why they still feel like crap after they have taken their meds.

I believe good habits will prevent you from getting ill most of the time.

Fresh clean air, a little exercise, an awareness to avoid the unhealthy things around you, and a healthier diet , this is not medical advice it is common sense to me.

Back to the original post...
During the months of April, May, June, and July of this year, I drank almost 100% japanese greens and did perceive an improvement in my health/well-being. The months prior to that I had been drinking mostly blacks, with some high mtn oolongs thrown in every once in a while.