Friday, July 11, 2008

Black Tea for Healthy Gums

Black tea, popularised for many health benefits has now been praised for aiding healthy gums. In fact the tea is not only good for healthy gums but also for healthier teeth and combating bad breath.

Black tea is the most popular of the three well known teas; black tea, green tea and red tea. Researchers from the University of Illinois have determined that the tea is conducive to general oral health by combating bacteria present in the mouth. Min Zhu and Christine Wu who are two of the researchers on the project said that the presence of theaflavins and catechins which are polyphenols have the effect of inhibiting bacteria growth in the mouth, although it takes up to 48 hours for the bacteria to be killed.

These two active compounds also prevent bad breath by restricting the production of hydrogen sulphide, the bad breath creating agent, by stopping the enzyme that produces the sulphide from performing correctly.

Other useful abilities that black tea performs are the reduction of dental cavities due to fluoride being present and by tannin that wards off the plaque creating bacteria that erodes away the teeth enamel.

In a different study sponsored by the National Tea Research Foundation of India, it was discovered that the black tea polyphenols can reverse changes in mouth cell DNA that are responsible for developing cancer. Oral leukoplakia which is a pre-cancerous state of cells in the mouth and is discerned by the presence of plaque or white patches is reduced simply by drinking black tea.

Thank natural to make herbals for good life!