50 Interesting Facts about Tea.

 40 Interesting Facts about Tea.

1. Tea breaks are a tradition that have been with us for approximately 200 years.
2. 80% of office workers now claim they find out more about what's going on at work over a cup of tea than in any other way.
3. By the middle of the 18th Century tea had replaced ale and gin as the drink of the masses and had become Britain's most popular beverage.
4. Tea contains half the amount of caffeine found in coffee.
5. The number of recommended cups of tea to drink each day is 4, this gives you optimal benefit.
6. Tea was created more than 5000 years ago in China.
7. Tea is a natural source of fluoride that can help protect against tooth decay and gum disease
8. The first book about tea was written by Lu Yu in 800 A.D
9. Tea firstly appeared in Europe thanks to Portuguese Jesuit Father Jasper de Cruz in 1560.
10. Tea has potential health maintainence benefits in cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention.
11. 96% of all cups of tea drunk daily in the UK are brewed from tea bags.
12. Apart from tourism, tea is the biggest industrial activity in India.
13. 98% of people take their tea with milk, but only 30% take sugar in tea.
14. In the UK we consume about 130,000 tonnes of tea a year of which at least 95% is in teabags.
15. One hectare of tea is planted out with approximately 12,000 tea bushes. Depending on its location these bushes can produce up to 3,000kgs of black tea in a year.
16. One bush produces 250grams of black tea a year, which is equal to one pack of Typhoo 80s.
17. Each bush will take about five days to produce enough tea for a Typhoo tea bag.
18. To produce our 2.9 billion tea bags we sell annually, we need approximately 40 million tea bushes or over 3300 hectares of tea.
19. Ty.phoo was the first brand to be sold pre-packaged rather than loose over the counter. At the time, it was believed to have medicinal qualities and was sold through chemists' shops.
20. The slogan on the first label read 'Ty.phoo, the tea that doctors recommend.'
21. The beverage's curative qualities were ascribed to the purity of Ty.phoo's 'leaf-edge' tea, compared to more ordinary varieties.
22. During World War 1, when the Government bought up and rationed tea stocks, Ty.phoo inserted circulars into packs urging customers to complain. The 'tea controller', deluged with letters, finally relented and Ty.phoo was made freely
23.  Tea has been around for centuries and is the second most-consumed beverage in the world, after water, with literally thousands of varieties in existance. Nowadays we seem to be finding more reasons to drink tea every day, whether it be black, white, green, herbal, Chinese or any other type. The anti-oxidising and cleansing abilities of the tea leaf make for a healthy choice, so say the scientists, but what else is tea good for?
     The origins of tea: 
24. Legend has it that tea
     originated well over 5000 years ago in ancient China. The innovative and science-curious emporer Shen Nung insisted that for hygeine purposes, all water in the palace must be boiled. When he was out visiting his kingdom one day, him and his men stopped to boil water to drink and it was said that leaves from a nearby bush fell into the water. Apparently the brew that resulted was so refreshing, the emporer ordered samples of the bush to be brought back to the palace for analysis. Afterwards, word got out and this new phenomenon became fashionable
25. Both black and green teas are made from the Camellia sinensis bush and have similar quantities of antioxidants and caffeine 
26. Tea contains catechins, a type of antioxidant which has been found to reduce people's risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Catechins can also be found in cocoa and dark chocolate.
27. Santosh Katiyar, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham found that the antioxidant also known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate can protect the skin from harmful UV rays. 
28. When combined with milk, tea can offer an array of vitamins and minerals including calcium, vitamin B6, Riboflavin B2, Thiamin B1, manganese for bone growth and repair, and potassium, important for neuron and brain function.
29. Teabags can be used to reduce the swelling of puffy eyes. Lie on your back and place a moist teabag over both eyes and leave on for around 20 minutes, this leaves your eyes feeling fresher, brighter, and looking revitalised. Also, a wet teabag can be used to soothe burns and sunburn. By either placing the teabag straight onto the burn or pouring tea into cool bathwater, it has been known to take away the burn's sting and help the skin heal faster. 
30. Research conducted in the Netherlands suggests that tea can help people avoid heart attacks, especially women. Johanna M Geleijnse, PhD from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam led a study which followed 4807 Dutch adults over the age of 55 who had no heart problems in their previous medical history.
31. After 5 years it was found that the volunteers who drank 375ml of black tea per day had a 43% reduction in the risk of having a heart attack and a 70% reduced risk of having a fatal attack.
32. Johanna commented on the team's findings: "We observed a strong inverse relation between teaintake and incident myocardial infarction(heart attack), and the relation was stronger in women than in men. Our findings suggest a protective effect of tea and flavonoid intakes against MI."
33. Odour absorbant 
34. It has been found that tea can work as an odour absorbant, removing bad smells especially from your skin. Pouring a cup over your hands is said to work wonders for all kinds of bad odours! 
35. Tea can be used to treat warts as the tannin present in tea is acidic. This element makes tea as effective at removing warts as creams and ointments. Leaving a moist teabag on the wart for 15 minutes, 3 times per day, will cause the wart to shrink and disappear.
36. The caffeine content of tea is approximately half of the amount that you'd find in a cup of brewed coffee. Whereas coffee provides around 100mg per 190ml cup, tea provides just 50mg, leaving you without the caffeine "drop" so familiar to coffee drinkers. 
37. A report issued by the UK Tea Council in 2006 stated that the fluoride content of tea makes it a potent defender of oral health. Fluoride binds to the tooth enamel, slowing down the tooth decay process and preventing cavities. Also, the instance of tannins in tea inhibits the growth of certain plaque-forming bacteria available.
38. Cold tea is good for taking the sting out of sunburn.
39. Brunettes can add shine to their hair by rinsing it in cold tea.
40. To refresh tired eyes you can place a used cold tea bag on the closed eyelids while resting.