Chai tea, or simply just chai, is a beverage that blends some spices in water and milk. Having its origins in India, this kind of tea is now popular across the world and can offer numerous health benefits due to the presence of antioxidants.
You can go through further details about chai and its antioxidant properties below.
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What Does Chai Tea Include?
Chai tea includes water, milk and a blend of other ingredients such as tea powder, ginger, cinnamon, fennel, cardamom, cloves, star anise and others. These spices can be present in varying combinations and amounts.
Sugar is another addition to chai tea; however, whether or not you add sugar or how much of it you add to your chai can depend on your own tastes, preferences and requirements.
Chai, made in this manner, can actually improve your health considerably, even if you buy readymade blends or tea packets. It also contains a bit of caffeine (less than coffee), giving you a healthy alternative to coffee.
Does Chai Tea Have Antioxidants?
Yes, chai tea has antioxidants. Antioxidants such as theaflavins and catechins are present in this beverage due to the combination of the ingredients used to make it. Mainly, the tea powder and the spices such as cinnamon, cloves and cardamom contain plenty of antioxidants that can then positively affect your health.
These antioxidants can then enter your body and help neutralize the free radicals present so that the condition of your cells and tissues can improve.
This can then help your body deal with oxidative stress, thus preventing or reducing the risk of chronic and harmful diseases such as cancer, heart disease and pain while also boosting your overall immunity.
Benefits Of Chai Tea
There are several benefits of chai tea that you can glean from your regular chai consumption. These benefits arise mainly due to the presence of antioxidants in the tea and other such supporting chemicals.
Cardiovascular Health
Chai tea can improve your cardiovascular health since it contains flavonoids that can reduce the level of oxidative stress. This can then also maintain the conditions of your arteries, leading to better functioning of the heart.
Associated heart conditions like strokes, extreme blood pressure levels, blood sugar levels as well as cholesterol levels can reduce or be prevented to a considerable extent.
Chai tea can also contain cinnamon which can reduce the risk of diabetes and reduce the presence of bad cholesterol in your body.
In a prolonged sense, this can lead to several advantages in the long term.
Prevention Of Diseases
Chai can also help prevent a range of chronic diseases and conditions that can otherwise create plenty of problems for your health. You have already seen how chai tea and the presence of antioxidants in it can help prevent heart diseases.
Apart from these, antioxidants also have the ability to prevent or reduce the risk of cancer since they can protect your cells against damage and equip your body to fight against cancer cells.
Since chai tea has more antioxidants due to the numerous spices and tea powder used, your cellular function will improve significantly.
Of course, chai tea alone cannot help you reduce the risk of cancer so make sure you have a balanced diet.
Cognitive Function
The presence of antioxidants in your chai tea can also mean good things for your cognitive function. It can improve your levels of focus, memory and attention while also reducing the risk of neurological diseases.
This is mainly due to the presence of cinnamon and other such spices like cardamom, ginger and cloves. Their antioxidant properties can work against diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, thus reducing their risk, early development or intensity if not being able to completely prevent them.
Anti-Inflammatory
The antioxidants present in chai tea have anti-inflammatory properties that can help ease the inflammation in your body. This can reduce swelling, soreness and other such muscle wear and injuries, making the process of healing quicker and more effective.
This can then not only help with short-term injuries and pain, but can also reduce the inflammation caused by arthritis and other such conditions.
These anti-inflammatory properties are present in the antioxidants contained in cinnamon, ginger, cloves, tea powder and cardamom. Ginger, in particular, can help with this considerably.
Increased Energy Levels
An increase in your energy levels is something that you can expect after a cup of chai tea. It can boost your awareness and focus while also improving your stamina and sense of alertness.
This energy that you receive can be due to the combined effects of both caffeine and antioxidant-rich spices since they can help relieve you of the lethargy that you might be feeling.
This can equip you well for the tasks that you need to perform during your day. Moreover, since it does not contain as much caffeine as coffee, it can also be much healthier for you to consume slightly more often.
Improved Immunity
You can expect an improved immunity system with regular consumption of chai. This boost to your immunity is due to the presence of spices like cardamom, ginger and cinnamon which can then equip your cells to fight against external conditions and prevent frequent illnesses.
These spices can, moreover, reduce congestion and alleviate the symptoms of cold and cough.
The tea powder that you use (mainly black tea powder) also has antioxidant catechins that can then work against viruses and bacteria of various kinds. This can help protect your teeth as well.
Reduced Nausea
Ginger is the main ingredient here that can help reduce the levels of nausea that you might be feeling. When combined with the other ingredients, it can help soothe digestive distress and allow your digestive system to function normally.
This can then also help reduce nausea due to the same reasoning, also proving quite useful when it comes to pregnancy, motion sickness and associated menstrual conditions.
Pain Control
Headaches, pain during injuries, stomach aches, joint pain, muscle pain, period pain and toothaches can all be reduced through chai tea. Ginger and cloves can prove to be particularly useful in this regard, so make sure you add them while brewing your cup of chai.
How Much Chai Tea Can You Drink?
It is best to have a cup or two of chai tea per day since this is usually enough to glean its benefits and feel its impact on your body as time goes on.
More than this can be a bit too much since it can interfere with iron absorption levels in your body, cause heartburn and affect your sleep and energy patterns (due to the presence of caffeine).
Thus, it is best to limit your consumption to two cups a day while also spacing it out well so that your tea time is not too close to your meal time.
However, there are no official recommendations for this, so it might be okay for you to consume more without any immediate health concerns.
Does Chai Tea Have Antioxidants? The Bottom Line
It is clear that chai tea has antioxidants that can provide several benefits to your health, mainly in preventing diseases, improving your bodily functions and maintaining your immunity. Having one or two cups of chai tea on a daily basis can go a long way in providing these benefits.
