20 Benefits of Black Tea for Skin, Hair and Health

Nutritional Profile of Black Tea

Benefits of Black Tea for Hair

1. Promotes Hair Growth

Rinsing your hair and scalp with room temperature black tea once in a while can stimulate hair growth as well as strengthen your hair follicles. This is because of the massive amounts of antioxidants and high caffeine content in black tea that penetrates the hair follicles to make your curls stronger. Also, Japanese scientists claim that topical application of Chinese black tea, fermented with Aspergillus sp. can improve your hair growth simply after 2 weeks.

2. Helps To Cover Grey Hair

Using chemical containing hair colours can make your hair appear dull and fried after a while. If you observe carefully, you will see that there’s a dark reddish black tinge in black tea, which works exceptionally good in highlighting your tresses with a natural brunette tint. This natural hair dyeing properties of black tea when mixed with henna and applied onto your hair and scalp can help to cover grey hair without making them dry or rough.

3. Enhances Scalp Health

Black tea is known to offer plenty of antioxidants and nutrients to your hair shaft that helps to boost your hair health and at the same time treat dandruff and itchy scalp issues. The anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties in black tea soothes scalp breakouts and also maintains the oil balance in your scalp, keeping it fresh and clean for a couple of days at least. Using a super simple homemade black tea hair mask once a week, acts as an ideal approach to improve your overall scalp health.

4. Prevents Hair Loss

If you are prone to balding or losing clumps of hair every time you use a heating tool on your tresses, then black tea might provide you relief from this serious crisis. One of the major reasons behind hair loss, baldness and receding hairline is a hormone called Dihydrotestosterone or DHT. The abundance of caffeine in black tea acts as natural DHT blocking agents and reduces excessive shedding of hair. Hence, washing your hair with black tea not only prevents hair thinning but also allows your strands to flourish with ease.

5. Improves Hair Texture

Unhygienic lifestyle habits, exposure to intense climatic conditions, overuse of chemical-induced hair products and not maintaining a suitable hair care routine tends to negatively affect your hair health, damaging your hair and making them prone to breakage and split ends. Covering your hair from root to tip with a black tea mask helps to deal with rough, dull and brittle hair. You can also use freshly brewed black tea onto your damaged tresses to repair them and improve your hair texture as it adds lustre, volume and shine to them.

Benefits of Black Tea for Skin

1. Stimulates Skin Regeneration

Black tea possesses powerful antioxidants like catechins and polyphenols as well naturally occurring chemical compounds known as tannins. These components get easily absorbed into your skin cells and provide your skin with essential nourishment so that it can regenerate itself. Although some people claim that black tea accelerates the skin healing process and is effective in treating wounds quickly, it is recommended not to apply it directly onto your injuries and cuts as there is no scientific evidence to confirm its effect on human skin wounds. Instead, you can drink a cup of black tea to experience its benefits.

2. Inhibits Skin Disorders

There can be several reasons for skin allergies like microbial attacks, allergic reaction to foreign substances, excessive and unhygienic use of makeup as well as environmental irritants and ignorant skin care routine. Black tea contains catechins and flavonoids that act as natural antiseptic agents and helps to prevent the development of such skin infections. So, in case you tend to frequently suffer from skin rashes and allergies, you can make a habit of consuming black tea regularly rather than investing on oral medication and topical ointments.

3. Protects skin from UV damage

Prolong exposure to intense UV radiation can damage your skin cells, resulting into serious sunburn and even skin cancer. As per researches, drinking black tea has been found to be very constructive in protecting the skin and recovering it from the signs of UV damage. You can also take a bath with black tea infused water or apply it topically onto your skin to reduce the effects of free radicals and prevent the development of skin cancer, as well as repair your heat damage skin cells.

4. Acts as An Anti-Wrinkle Agent

Due to presence of catechins, polyphenols, tannins along with natural stimulants like guanine and xanthine , black tea gets its astringency properties that helps to retain your skin’s elasticity and firmness. The benefits of black tea vs. green tea include its effectiveness as an excellent anti-wrinkle agent that boosts the production of collagen, making your skin feel youthful and alive. Moreover, with age your skin tends to appear dull, exhausted and develops premature signs of skin aging like under eye puffiness. The application of black tea acts as an ideal remedy to prevent and treat such symptoms.

5. Reduces Skin Pigmentation

Who doesn’t want a blemish free even-toned skin! But, sadly it is very difficult to maintain a clear skin and get rid of skin pigmentation and acne scars without the use of chemicals. Black tea is known to work as an amazing natural solution to this problem, thanks to the presence of rich antioxidants that helps to flush out the toxins that lead to the formation of blemishes in the first place. Using a black tea face mask once or twice a week can lighten your skin complexion and offer a healthy glow to your skin, making it appear radiant and rejuvenated.

Benefits of Black Tea for Health

1. Prevents Diabetes

High blood sugar when left untreated, is known to cause several health complications like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, kidney failure and depression. The catechins and theaflavins present in black tea helps to improve the use of insulin in the body, making your body more insulin sensitive as well as prohibits beta cell dysfunction. Therefore, intake of pure black tea, without sugar and milk has proven to be constructive in lowering the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and keep your blood sugar levels in control.

2. Boosts Immunity

The benefits of drinking black tea every day is directly related to its immunity boosting abilities as it acts as an ideal remedy for people who are prone to falling sick frequently. Black tea gets its antioxidant properties from the polyphenols that include catechins, theaflavins and thearubigins. These antioxidants help to eliminate free radicals and reduce cell damage in the body, ultimately preventing the risk of chronic ailments. Drinking black tea not only protects your body from oxidative stress but effectively keeps influenza, stomach flu and other such commonly found viruses at bay.

3. Helps to Control Cholesterol

It is a known fact that high cholesterol and fluctuating blood pressure are a deadly combination, directly associated with heart and kidney failure, obesity, stroke, vision loss and heart attacks. The unique antioxidants in black tea blocks the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, inhibiting damage in both the bloodstream and at artery walls. This anti-hypercholesterolemic effect of black tea provides exceptionally good results, especially to individuals who are prone to heart disorders and obesity. One of the many benefits of black tea with lemon refers to its ability in lowering down your cholesterol levels naturally.

4. Good for Oral Health

Smoking cigarettes and consuming tobacco products can damage your gums and even lead to the development of oral cancer. Researches conducted by the Tea Trade Health Research Association indicate that consumption of black tea can block the formation of plaque in your mouth as it inhibits bacterial growth and reduces the occurrence of mouth infections, dental cavities and tooth decays. Moreover, the antibacterial and antioxidant properties found in black tea is known to restrict oral leukoplakia in patients with oral carcinoma as well as helps to get rid of bad breath.

5. Treats Digestive Ailments

Contrary to popular beliefs, black tea isn’t really responsible for acidity or ulcers when consumed in moderation. Rather, it is loaded with tannins, catechins and flavonoids that offers a calming, anti-inflammatory effect on your digestive system as well as helps to treat gastric and intestinal illnesses. The benefits of drinking black tea every day also refers to its potent antimicrobial properties that destroys harmful substances and improves gut bacteria to reduce digestive disorders such as bloating, stomach upset and indigestion. In some cases, a cup of black tea can provide instant relief and soothe your digestive system without the use of any medicine.

6. Offers Relief from Asthma

The primary reason behind asthma is the tightening and inflammation of the air passage or bronchial tubes due to the attack of various allergens. A cup of warm black tea can be very helpful in soothing the irritated air passage in asthmatic patients and expanding it to make the process of inhaling and exhaling easier. This is because of the presence of caffeine, a stimulant that possesses similar chemical characteristics to that of a drug used in the treatment of asthma and bronchitis, called theophylline. Also, caffeine enhances your lung functioning and is excellent for healing breathing disorders.

7. Enhances Bone Health

Maintaining strong and healthy bones are not only important for your day-to-day activities but also cuts down the probability of developing osteoporosis and arthritis. Due to the loss of bone density, you tend to notice your bones getting weak with age. This often leads to joint pains and increases the risk of fractures. Although a bit surprising, amongst the various benefits of drinking black tea every day, one includes its effectiveness in offering positive impact on bone mineral density, especially in women. Thanks to the phytochemicals present in black tea, it acts as an ideal remedy to retain your bone strength naturally.

8. Lowers the Risk Of Cancer

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and with each passing day, the number of individuals diagnosed with this fatal disease is increasing. Black tea can be used for cancer prevention as it possesses a wide variety of polyphenols that include catechins, theaflavins, tannins, and flavonoids. These natural plant compounds are known to inhibit the formation of potential carcinogens in your body, thereby preventing the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells. The role of black tea as an anti-cancer agent has also been beneficial for protecting your body against lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, oral cancer, colorectal cancer, and bladder cancer.

9. Helps in Weight Loss

The various benefits of black tea for weight loss are related to its effectiveness in preventing diabetes, heart disease, PCOS and high cholesterol, as all these disorders lead to obesity. Moreover, you can experience the benefits of black tea with lemon to induce weight loss as it helps to cut down visceral fat by reducing inflammation inducing genes. The flavonoids and catechins found in black tea not only supervise the food intake in your body but also improves your body’s metabolic rate, fat oxidation process and insulin activity, thereby aiding weight loss.

10. Reduces the Chances of Neurological Disorders

Neurological syndromes such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, are often caused due to cognitive abnormalities as well as because of partial or complete malfunctioning of your brain and nervous system. Black tea could be effective in lowering the chances of such disorders by increasing the alpha brain wave activity and reducing the risk of cognitive impairment. The caffeine and L-theanine in black tea stimulates your brain cells to boost your memory function. Hence, drinking a cup of back tea can calm your mind and help you focus better.

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