"It was known that green tea polyphenols are more effective and offer more health benefits than black tea polyphenols since green tea chemicals are absorbed into the blood and tissue," said Susanne Henning, the study's lead author and an adjunct professor at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. "Our new findings suggest that black tea, through a specific mechanism through the gut microbiome, may also contribute to good health and weight loss in humans."
That specific mechanism seems to be that it changes the ratio of bacteria in the intestine by increasing the microbes associated with lean body mass and decreasing those associated with obesity. While both green and black teas act as prebiotics in this way, it seems that black tea might have a leg up over its green partner.
The study fed four groups of mice different diets. One group ate low-fat, high-sugar foods,while another had high-fat, high-sugar meals. The other two were both on a high-fat, high-sugar diet but one got green tea extract, while the other received black tea extract.
[...] Because black tea seems to work in the gut, while green tea works in the liver as well as the gut, a combination of both drinks might be most helpful, especially since both beverages have been linked to multiple health benefits beyond weight loss.
The researchers did not specify how much sugar to mix with your black tea.
Susanne M. Henning, et. al. Decaffeinated green and black tea polyphenols decrease weight gain and alter microbiome populations and function in diet-induced obese mice, European Journal of Nutrition, doi:10.1007/s00394-017-1542-8
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 06 2017, @11:15PM (2 children)
I don't know about all these health stuff, but if you like tea, and if you like black/red tea, try some decent quality Sri Lanka/Ceylon tea. It's got fruity/citrus flavor that, unlike some cheaper black tea, you don't need to drop a slice of lemon/orange to enhance the flavor. Peet's have a pretty decent stuff of the kind.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 07 2017, @12:38PM
Another recommendation from a layman would be tea with tasty bergamot oil. It's also got a citrusy flavor and does contain a lot of polyphenols, not sure how healthy though. However if taken in large doses, it's toxic. (like most things)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @04:50AM
Just realized there's a tea store down the road a few weeks back, so I switched from bag tea to their loose leaf tea. Didn't really cost more, and it's so much better. The only earl grey I've tried with bag tea that was good was Twinings.
I don't think the supermarket stocks Peet's over here in flyover country.