White tea contains anti-obesity substances
BioMed Central's Nutrition and Metabolism journal published the results of a study at Beiersdorf AG that found that an extract of white tea inhibits the growth of new fat cells and and breaks down the fat in existing fat cells.
After treating lab-cultured human pre-adipocytes with the tea extract, the authors found that fat incorporation during the genesis of new adipocytes was reduced. According to Winnefeld, "The extract solution induced a decrease in the expression of genes associated with the growth of new fat cells, while also prompting existing adipocytes to break down the fat they contain."White tea -- the solution to the obesity epidemic?
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Look this and that may have all sort of chemical whosit-whatsits and that's all well and good. But even if they don't it comes down to this:
If you're drinking tea, then you're not drinking soda pop. And that's a big fucking win, anyway.
Cool! White tea is delicious.
An in vitro study doesn't say anything about how this works in the body. Cells in a jar in a lab.
We can infer a great deal from cells in a jar in a lab.
Most of our drug testing is done on systems that are close enough to the human body's that we can assume analogous effect. This is no different.
Perhaps they should test the white tea after it's been digested then since that's how it'll get into our bodies. Just saying.
So, they will be incorporating this new 'wunderschisse' into gelatinous gum-based shakes at the local fast-food establishments when?
uhhhh...
Biomed Central is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to scientific journals.
This means they could not convince any other decent journal to publish the finding.
I would highly doubt this result.
What are some good brands that you guys would recommend for White tea? I like tea, but I don't really have any sitting in my pantry. I would love to buy some...give me some ideas, please.
Teas are not brand-oriented. Simply look for a reliable supplier or dealer that offers a variety. Much white tea comes from China so any local distributor that sells such must be fine. If not, check online and try to buy loose tea, which is cheaper than tea bags.
Green tea was supposed to be an anti-oxidant until it was discovered that whoops... It's actually an oxidant.
Considering the high price, super poor effectiveness and huge side effects of modern drugs who would want anything tested like we test our modern drugs
#10 - It's still an anti-oxidant as far as I (or wiki) can tell. Source?
@#7 Anonymous: I also doubt this as an unbiased, well proven result. No doubt one of the big soft drink companies is trying to establish or expand this market niche, and they've funded some appropriate research.
White tea has all the same chemicals as black tea, green tea, oolong, and puh ehr--it's all Camellia Sinensis. It's just dried/prepared in a different way after it's harvested. "White tea" is traditionally just dried leaves of the tea plant, with no other preparation. It brews into a very light and delicate beverage, less harsh than even light green teas.
I echo #9 about finding a "brand". The quality tea suppliers will sell you tea based on the region it is picked, the type of picking, etc.
I'm a long time tea drinker, and have had good luck (quality, value, reliablity) with Upton Tea and Special Teas, both established online importers/retailers of loose tea in the US.
Educate yourself about the world of loose tea and you won't regret it.
And do drink white tea. It is quite healthy. A magic bullet for fat? Probably not.
and and
I'm not fat. I'm drought and famine resistant.
Boing Boing once again finds itself at the beginning of a meme fad. Just watch -- White Tea is the new pomegranite.
Well, put it this way. If you like it, it's actually healthy for other reasons and otherwise no harm done. If you don't like it, why force yourself to drink something that may or may not have the desired results? It seems pointless. Long story short: my mother dies of cancer in the mid-90s. At the time my father was convinced that some tea guru had the magic cure. The stuff was vile and my mother just couldn't drink it. My father was upset that she wasn't "curing" herself. My thinking at the time was basically, it was making her quality of life worse to try to drink this sludge, so what's the point.
Anyway, perhaps this is all a bit apples and oranges, at least in seriousness, but since that time I've been wary of miracle cures. I like tea, so maybe I'll try it. Maybe it will have a placebo effect on my expanding mid-section.
"White tea is the new pomegranite"
That's cool by me - they are both delicious.
The white tea I've enjoyed most is Silver Needles. It's a little pricey as far as tea goes, but a little goes a long way, so it's still cheaper than good coffee as far as price per cup--especially since with better teas, you can steep them three to five times, and still get good results.
One thing about good white tea that takes a little getting used to is that it is a very mild-flavored tea, so it seems you're getting less for more, but it doesn't take long to learn to appreciate its subtle, unique flavor.
Most recently I bought a cheaper white tea, (Bai Mu Dan, I think?), but it has some green tea leaves mixed in, and had the slightly harsher flavor (sometimes described as grassy) of green tea. I'll go back to Silver Needles next time.
This article in Wikipedia has a good discussion of the varieties of white tea and a picture of some Silver Needles. Especially see the discussion on brewing. The only thing I would add is that with Chinese teas I usually do a short first steep and toss that, (as much out of paranoia as anything else), before drinking a longer second steep.
I like Rishi's teas, out of Milwaukee. They can be found in a lot of Whole Foods, or you can order direct from their website.
#11 the angry toxicologist told me so. More reliable than 5 wiki articles and a billion health food links.
http://scienceblogs.com/angrytoxicologist/2007/05/natural_does_not_equal_safe_gr.php
Probably important to note that when they say white tea is good for you they do *not* mean a bottle of Snapple white tea with 15 grams, oh! wait, there are *two* servings in a bottle, *30* grams of sugar in it....
@#20
"Green tea consumption is associated with reduced mortality due to all causes and due to cardiovascular disease but not with reduced mortality due to cancer."
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/296/10/1255
From the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical association) abstract about green tea and mortality.
And if the angry toxicologist wants me to think his articles are well-thought-out and reasoned with ample research, he should try proof-reading them once in a while (yeesh).
DV Revolutionary, the very same "Angry Toxicologist" article you linked to says "Don't take tea-supplements! I wouldn't worry about drinking tea, though".
I was just asked for a citation. I gave it.
I think it proved my point about green tea (tea or supplement) being an oxidant despite received health wisdom and a huge industry saying that it was an anti-oxidant.
It also hit on themes others had brought up about points about in vivo/in vitro testing that are pertinent to evaluating the main article.
BTW I drink green tea and enjoy it. I even love my starbucks grande non-fat green-tea latte though that is like sugar and artificial flavors (mellon) and I would be a fool to imagine it is healthy. That is an occasional treat.
Worth noting that BioMed Central's journal Impact Factors are on average better than many traditional scientific publishers's journals:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/faq?name=impactfactor#jif
Nutrition and Metabolism journal, which published this study will get its Impact Factor this June.
"Impact Factors"? Oh, come on!
For some reason I value peer-reviewed actuality over "Impact Factors".
Your Mileage May Vary.
I was wondering if anyone could help with the appropriate *way* to brew white or green tea.
I know it's different from black, and the water is supposed to be below boiling...but how far below? What should the kettle look/sound like and what color should the final product be?
If there was genuine evidence suggesting green tea as an oxidant I somehow doubt tea companies getting away with literally advertising its anti-oxidant qualities in a no-nonsense manner on packaging. The claims they make seem finite and fact-oriented enough not to sneak in under puffery laws. Perhaps for a while they'd get away with it, yes, but eventually someone's going to call them on that, if so, and the law will not be on their side.
Last week I was at a hotel that had some free White Tea with Pomegranate which I made extensive use of, so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.
Oh wait, that's the Fark meme. What's the BB one...?
#15, 17 I have pyramid shaped tea bags with white tea and pomegranate. And it tastes pretty good, even with all three gimmicks.
The oxidant vs. anti-oxidant arguers may well be aware of this, but anti-oxidant is not inherently good, and oxidant not inherently bad. Eukaryotic Life As We Know It (Jim), is dependent on processes involving oxidation. Also, a complex gamish, which is what plants are, may well contain compounds in both classes.
From a "how could this work", the stuff in tea that resembles caffeine which resembles Cyclic amp which is significantly involved in regulation of energy production is cells. The answer why white tea vs. coke vs. coffee is a decade out of some poor grad students life. May be a whole different mechanism involved too.
In terms of certainty, "white tea smoked bacon" arriving at your grocer's cooler in 3,2,...
I'm going to start shooting up white tea right away, so I can continue to enjoy my frosty sweet Coca-Cola beverages!
#26, Nutrition and Metabolism is peer-reviewed.
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/info/about/
It's also open access, which means you can read the paper and judge the 'actuality' for yourself.
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/6/1/20
@#29: don't worry, this IS fark, it's just the page with the funny pictures and extra nerdy kidz.
I heard eating less and exercising more works too.
Magic bullets rarely work. Very few good things in life come without effort....
For the record I drink tons of tea, including white tea. I still have to diet to see my abs.
Never thought I'd see the day when BoingBoing subjected us to OMGTEHDEATHFATZ!
Start with Kate Harding. Then move down her blogroll.
@Snig:
Personally, I can't wait for bacon cheddar jack white tea poppers on the menu at T.G.I. Friday's.
They forgot the part with all tea studies that you have to drink at least 12 cups a day for a year for a .5% difference.
I've been experimenting on myself for years now with all kinds of teas that are supposed to have healing properties of some kind. None of them do crap. At this point I just drink it cause it tastes good, I make it myself, and it has no corn syrup in it.
#36: DEEP FRIED CHEESE SNACKS! Of course! That's what's for dinner! I was at something of a loss as to what to have. Thank you.
hmm firstly let me say that if I'm not in China (which is most of the time!) I will always get my tea from www.goldenteahouse.com
That's for white tea, but most often quite a few other Non-whites.
Now.. and more importantly, the information focused on this tea is way out into bogus-land. Typical Americanization of bad information for marketing purposes. Firstly, the concept that x tea is better than y due to all these special characteristics of this or that... is ALL unstudied, at least not even close to sufficient for any real conclusion. I believe someone above alluded to the stuff all being one leaf, and that's definitely a big part of it. But the concept of white tea being more 'pure' is just a western invention by marketers who realize how white people will think of white tea. It is most certainly more processed than green tea, and it is in no way some old Chinese ancient brew. In as few words as I can put together, White tea is a new processing style for a specific type of tea leaf grown in Fuding (or occasionally Zhenghe) counties in Fujian province. I've been there and seen it all, out of tea interest but mostly for the wonderful scenery! Even the caffeine nonsense regarding white tea is pure trash. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. White tea is a wonderful tea (sometimes.. if you have the right ones) but it is not a silver bullet, nor a white bullet for anything at all.
#40
First off, the study was done in a German lab, using a German preparation of white tea, which I don't find typically American.
Secondly, with any use of plants for medicinal or scientific nutrition studies, it's important to detail preparation. Different parts of the plant is used in white tea vs. green tea, and they're treated differently. Since it it such a frequently consumed beverage by such a huge percentage of humanity, it's important that there is this level of scrutiny.
There are 800 hits for camellia sinensis on Pubmed, so it is not unstudied. Doesn't matter if you consider white tea Ancient Chinese brew or New Age Koolaid. Authenticity is not the issue. The different preps of tea have different biochmeical properties, which have been studied and noted.
Yes, this study and others have been and will be used inappropriately for marketing purpouses. Not just by Americans. This does not mean it's not worthwhile doing the science and talking about it.
The first antibiotic was discovered because of a scientist's geeky curiosity about the effect of his own accidental snot droplet on a bacterial culture. The fact it seems pretty mundane on the surface does not mean there's not fabulous science underneath. Tempest in a teacup.
For those asking about how to brew white tea, here's a general rule: the longer the tea is processed, the hotter the water. White and green tea have minimal processing, oolongs (green and red) a bit more, and black and pu-er teas the most.
Water for white and green tea should be significantly cooler than boiling. Bring the water to boil first, and let it cool for a few minutes. (Not cool enough to gulp, but cool enough to slurp noisily.) Don't let the water sit on the tea for more than two minutes, or it will be very bitter.
Caffeine is highly water soluble, so if you don't want it, steep for a minute, dump that water, and steep again.
The rule for a good oolong is similar to a white or green tea. You can get more steepings out of a green oolong than many red oolongs, but the water temperature should be about the same. (If you haven't tried a real oolong, you're missing out on a treat -- the fragrance of a good one will fill the whole room.)
Indian (a.k.a. British) and pu-er black tea call for boiling water. Bring the tea pot to the boiling kettle on the stove, not the kettle to the tea pot.
btw if you really drink a LOT of white tea at one sitting, you can get "tea drunk" (feel faint from a drop in blood pressure). This happened to me when I was tea tasting for a couple hours.
White tea does this more, so if you're thinking of using it medicinally and you have a heart condition, you should talk to your doctor first. If the white tea is strong, I can feel a bit of the effects after a single cup. Other teas don't do this to me, but it's still important not to overdo it. (It has nothing to do with the caffeine -- there are other chemicals in white tea that lower blood pressure.)