By,
Valerie Lull
Oolong tea goes back at least 1,000 years. Historians think it comes from Fuijan province in China. Oolong is the name of the man who discovered this tea. Tea from Taiwan is also known as Formosa Oolong. A British ambassador in the 19th century dedicated some of the tea to the British queen. She was quite pleased with it and called it Oriental Beauty. Not as much research has been done on Oolong tea as on Black tea and especially Green tea. but there are some health properties associated with oolong tea.
Oolong tea is from the same camellia sinensis bush that black, green and white tea comes from. The difference in the teas is in the way the teas are processed. Black tea is allowed to oxidize until it is black, green tea is not oxidized at all and oolong is partially oxidized. Oolong has some oxidation but not as much as black tea. White tea is different altogether, it is the first new leaf and bud of the plant and is simply steamed. White tea in ancient times was reserved only for the Chinese emperor.
Oolong tea has been used to sharpen thinking, and increase alertness. It is used in folklore for prevention of cancer, tooth decay, osteoporosis and heart disease. It contains vitamins and minerals like calcium, copper, manganese, selenium, potassium, vitamins A,C,E and K. It also has folic acid and niacin.
There was a study done in 2013 and published in The Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, that studied tea consumption and ovarian cancer risk. It was done on 500 Chinese women with ovarian cancer and 500 women as controls. In the study results the women who regularly drank green tea, black tea and oolong tea had a lower risk of ovarian cancer.
While there still needs to be more research on oolong tea and pancreatic cancer, the results seem promising and warrant more research. Always consult your healthcare practitioner if you have cancer or any other disorder and want to use tea therapeutically.
Check out my website at www.valerielull.com
I am working on the 3rd edition of my book Ten Spices for Health land Longevity. I hope to have it out in the next couple months.
References
http://www.teavivre.com/info/oolong-tea-history/
http://teapedia.org/en/Formosa_oolong_tea
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