When it comes to green tea vs black tea, there are a lot of differences to compare. Both have a different cultivating process, flavor, and health benefits, leading to an argument about which one’s healthier.
To answer that particular question, you’ll have to discover the nature of both green tea and black tea beforehand.
1. The origin of green tea and black tea
A plant called Camellia sinensis from China, India, Japan, and Sri Lanka is the source of green tea and black tea.
However, those teas are mainly cultivated and processed in different areas. Green tea, for example, is cultivated in Japan, China, South America, and even Europe.
On the other hand, black tea is cultivated mainly in Yunnan and Anhui provinces in China, India, Sri Lanka, and Britain.
2. Green tea vs black tea flavor profile comparison
Generally, green tea is more popular among younger tea enthusiasts than black tea, thanks to Japanese “Matcha latte” which is accessible everywhere.
Regular green tea is also popular in many Asian restaurants, particularly Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, with bold grass-like and bitter flavors.
The Japanese green tea, in particular, has bolder aroma with a hint of umami flavor because of high chlorophyll and amino acid concentrations.
But that doesn’t mean black tea isn’t popular at all. If anything, several black tea types are popular in the western countries, with their names based on their cultivated locations. For example:
- Ceylon black tea comes from Sri Lanka
- Darjeeling, Nilgiri, and Assam black teas come from India
- Earl Grey tea comes from Britain
- Yunnan and Keemun black teas come from China
Each different region yields a different flavor profile to the black tea, but overall it has a floral flavor.
It can also contain citric, chocolate, and/or spiced flavors infused to the tea.
3. Processing differences between green tea and black tea
All the differences between green tea and black tea in flavor stem from the cultivating process.
Green tea leaves are harvested and heated, either through pan-firing or steaming, to preserve the catechins (antioxidant properties) and texture.
Japanese green tea goes farther than that by planting the plant in the shade to protect the amino acid and chlorophyll concentrations.
On the other hand, black tea leaves are withered and rolled to push away moisture and cause oxidation.
Along the way, oxygen interacts with the tea’s enzymes, which leads to fermentation. Then, the leaves are oven-fired to stop further oxidation.
4. Content differences between green tea and black tea
Because of the different cultivation processes, you can compare green tea vs black tea’s caffeine and antioxidant contents.
For a start, green tea has more antioxidants with different types such as epigallocatechin gallate that can’t be found within black tea.
This is because black tea undergoes an oxidation process which releases a large number of antioxidants.
Also, a cup of green tea has a caffeine amount of 25 mg, except for matcha green tea that has 40 mg. Some people consider it a substitute for coffee because of its caffeine amount and the l-theanine compound.
The latter gives your body the concentration enhancement of a coffee without any side effects like energy spikes or jittery.
That being said, black tea has more caffeine amounts at around 50 mg per serving. Its value can increase or decrease based on the cultivation regions, with the amount being as high as 90 mg.
Ergo, it may make a better substitute for heavy coffee enthusiasts who feel that green tea’s caffeine amount isn’t enough.
5. Health benefit differences between green tea and black tea
All things considered, there are differences between green tea and black tea when it comes to health benefits.
Which one is better for your health between green tea vs black tea? Below are several key benefits that each tea provides to help answer that particular question.
a. Green tea
- Improves your brain capability
Epigallocatechin gallate is an antioxidant that relieves amyloid plaques’ effects on your brain. As a result, it improves your brain capability and strengthens it against aging diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
- Promotes weight loss
All the antioxidants and caffeine within green tea will cause thermogenesis inside your body. This results in an accelerating fat-burning process, thus promoting weight loss.
However, matcha latte isn’t effective for this benefit because it contains milk and sweetener, which may disrupt the thermogenesis process.
- Detoxifies your body
A high level of antioxidants helps green tea to detoxify your body from free radicals and toxins. Additionally, its high chlorophyll and amino acid concentrations improve this benefit even further.
- Prevent stomach, breast, bladder, and prostate cancer
Again, with the epigallocatechin gallate, this antioxidant is effective for erasing mutated dead cells, preventing various types of cancer.
Furthermore, it relives your blood circulation to improve heart health and prevent cardiovascular diseases.
b. Black tea
- Boosts concentration level
Because it has a higher amount of caffeine, black tea makes a great choice to boost your concentration level and energy. It increases the rate of blood flow to make you feel alert and focused.
- Protects heart condition
But despite having more caffeine, black tea doesn’t damage your heart. On the contrary, it lowers LDL cholesterol rate and protects your heart condition against cardiovascular diseases.
- Improves bone and teeth
While green tea has 0.3 mg of fluoride per serving, black tea has a whopping 0.9 mg of fluoride. This larger amount of content creates more hydroxyapatite tissue that strengthens your bone and teeth.
- Increases protection in blood vessels
To support the aforementioned heart protection, black tea stabilizes blood flow in the blood vessels with its theaflavins antioxidant.
It reduces inflammation in blood vessels to eliminate plaque formation, all while providing the blood with nitric oxide.
6. Conclusion
Well, ultimately, all these green tea vs black tea issues are not so relevant. Both green tea and black tea provides a plethora of health benefits that can keep your body healthy for a long time.
It’s your call to drink the tea that suits your taste and health situation. Of course, that means you can also drink both of them and forget about all the green tea vs black tea issues.
After all, each tea has several different flavor profiles, so you have all the freedom to test them out. With that being said, you still need to consult a doctor to check any form of allergy from green tea or black tea.
And because they have a high amount of caffeine nonetheless, you also need to keep the consumption amount in check.
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