🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Benefits of Tea Drinking
Tea drinking in China has a history of over four thousand years, accumulating rich experience. Ancient people had profound insights into tea’s health benefits: "Add tea before water, orderly brewing." "Shennong encountered poison and found relief through tea." "The teapot holds the sun and moon, nurturing character and prolonging life." "Long-term bitter tea drinking enhances thinking." "Drink green tea in summer, red tea in winter, floral tea in spring and autumn." "Winter tea wards off cold, summer tea relieves heat annoyance." "Ginger tea treats dysentery, sugar tea soothes the stomach, chrysanthemum tea clears eyesight." "Tea after meals aids digestion, tea in the afternoon boosts spirit." "Hot tea invigorates, light tea is best when warm." Compared to Westerners, Chinese have lower rates of atherosclerosis and heart disease—not just due to genetics, lifestyle, or diet, but importantly because of their preference for green tea.
Tea was originally discovered for medicinal purposes before being recognized as a beverage. As medicine, tea is called the "universal remedy"; as a drink, it ranks as the best among the world’s three major beverages (coffee, Coca-Cola, tea).
According to research, tea contains caffeine, theobromine, theophylline, choline, xanthine, flavonoids and glycosides, tea tannins, catechins, terpenes, phenols, aldehydes, alcohols, acids, esters, aromatic compounds, carbohydrates, various vitamins, proteins, amino acids, and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, fluorine, iodine, manganese, aluminum, zinc, selenium, copper, germanium, and magnesium. These components collectively benefit health, playing a significant role in disease prevention and resistance. Hence, folk wisdom says: "One cannot live without tea."
Specifically, regular tea drinking can extend lifespan. Scientific studies confirm this. Research shows that black, floral, and green teas not only reduce animal mortality by half and extend average lifespan, but also significantly increase maximum lifespan, with a dose-dependent trend. Experiments prove tea’s anti-aging effect is 18 times stronger than vitamin E. Tea’s alkaloids stimulate the central nervous system, enhancing cerebral cortex excitation, boosting mental clarity, improving thought processes, relieving fatigue, and increasing work efficiency. Tea prevents and treats diseases, acting as an effective remedy. For example, tea inhibits malignant tumors; tea polyphenols and caffeine prevent cholesterol elevation, preventing myocardial infarction; tea polyphenols promote vascular patency, delay and prevent lipid plaque formation in vessel walls, thus suppressing atherosclerosis, hypertension, and cerebral thrombosis. Tea tannins kill various bacteria, effectively treating oral, pharyngeal, intestinal, and dysenteric inflammation. Tea strengthens teeth, improves vision, aids weight loss, and quenches thirst—benefits unmatched by any other drink or medicine.