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Many people know that tea has anti-oxidants. They may also know it cuts cholesterol. There is a reason that tea is good for you that most people in the West don't know. That has to do with the temperature.
In Chinese Medicine, drinking cold drinks is bad for you. We tend to drink a lot of cold drinks in the US. Many people who are trying to be healthy drink ice water, cold juice, or smoothies blended with ice. People knowledgable about Chinese Medicine wince when they see this. They believe that it feeds "damp heat," a condition that causes inflammation, among other things. From this perspective, tea is good when it is drunk hot. Hot drinks are often good for you in Chinese Medicine, especially in the morning. The heat helps us get our metabolisms going.
Think of it is way. There is a special kind of vitality that is used to run our internal organs. Every time you consume cold food or drink, that special energy is diverted to warm the contents of your stomach up to body temperature. This interruption stops your body from running the way it should. Cold food is also bad. In Chinese Medicine, it's better to consume stuff hot or at room temperature.
Other cultures feel similarly. In Germany there is saying; nothing too cold or too hot. Some Italians feel the Americans are shocking our stomachs with such large quantities of ice and cold drinks. In general, Europeans do not consume as much ice and cold drinks as Americans do.
In any event, hot tea is not another dose of ice water. It's also not a soda, energy drink or a Frappuccino. Hot herb tea, green tea, black tea, or decaf tea all are good from this perspective, as they are hot. Whatever agrees with you.
To find out more about Chinese Medicine, I'd recommend a book called Asian Health Secrets by Letha Hadady. You might also look at Total Health the Chinese Way by Esther Ting PhD.
