If you’re someone with no stress, no exposure to toxins of any kind, no heart disease risk or weight concerns, you may not need black tea.

If you aren’t, however, there are many benefits of black tea that can improve your health.

And, you can increase your intake of antioxidants and beneficial compounds with the Keto Zone Super-Antioxidant Chai Latte.

It includes many spices also proven beneficial for health.

Relax with a cup or two, and read about all the 7 proven benefits of black tea today.

Keto Zone Super-Antioxidant Chai Latte

To make a batch of tea:

• 1 Tbsp. fennel or anise seed
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 12 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4″ ginger root, sliced thin
• 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 Cups water
• 2 Tbsp. Darjeeling or other loose black tea leaves (can be decaffeinated if using before sleep)

Additions for individual cups:

• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (such as coconut milk, hemp milk, almond milk)
• 1 scoop MCT oil powder
• low-carb sweetener to taste

Instructions:

1. Place first 8 ingredients in a pot (through water).  Boil 5 minutes, then steep 10 minutes.
2. Add tea leaves, bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.
3. Strain tea and spices.
4. If you’d like to store it, place in the refrigerator. Then, serve 3/4 cup tea as needed.
5. To serve, add non-dairy milk, MCT oil powder, and sweetener.

Nutrition Info per 1 cup tea and additions: 90 calories, 7 gm fat, 0 gm net carbs, 3 gm fiber

7 Proven Benefits of Black Tea

While you may know of the many benefits of green tea, did you know that black tea contains amazing nutrients for your body as well?

It’s true.

Both green and black tea come from the same plant, the Camelia tea plant.   The difference is in the methods used for drying the leaves.  Green tea leaves are not fermented; they are withered and steamed. Black tea and oolong tea leaves undergo a crushing and fermenting process (1).

Through this process, black tea retains compounds that offer cellular detoxification, and more.

In fact, drink 2 or more cups of black tea per day and you’ll get:

1. Cellular Detox and Toxin Relief

Black tea offers cellular detoxifying benefits that protect cells from free radicals, the damage that can lead to blood clot formation, atherosclerosis, and cancer.

In fact, both green and black tea block DNA damage associated with tobacco and other toxic chemicals in studies (2).

2. Increased Antioxidants

With 2 cups per day, you’ll consume 10 times the polyphenols (antioxidants) found in most fruits or vegetables.  You’re not off the hook for eating those vegetables, though, so don’t chuck your kale just yet.

While tea is a very concentrated source of antioxidants, it contains different ones than fruits and vegetables.  And just like a Holiday Party, the more the merrier.

3. Heart Disease Protection

You’ll lower your risk of heart disease, certain cancers, high blood pressure, and obesity.  This is confirmed in both human population studies and lab studies with mice.

People groups that drink the most tea certainly have lesser amounts of these diseases, tea-drinking mice have less occurrence, and large meta-analysis studies have concluded that daily tea equals a lower risk of ischemic heart disease (3).

4. Lower Stress & Cortisol

One of the best black tea benefits is lower cortisol.

Especially in those who feel jittery with coffee, tea offers lower caffeine and a more balanced alertness along with relaxation and stress relief.

Research has shown that black tea can actually help reduce the effects of daily life stresses by reducing cortisol.

One study included 75 healthy males who gave up their usual caffeinated beverages and were split into two groups. Next, one group consumed a flavored caffeinated black tea every day, which contained the beneficial components of black tea. The second drank a beverage that had the same level of caffeine, tasted the same, but did not contain any other active tea components.

The subjects were exposed to real-life-like stressful situations.

Researchers studied their stress hormones, blood pressure, heart rates and self-reported sense of stress.

The results?

Within 50 minutes after the stressors occurred, the real black tea drinking group experienced a significant reduction in cortisol levels in comparison to the fake black tea drinkers.

What’s more, the black tea consumers reported a higher “sense of relaxation.”

Lastly, these black tea drinks had lower blood platelet activation, lowering their risk of heart attack(4).

5. Weight Loss

While green tea extract often makes the news for weight loss, black tea can also help.

In research, scientists have found that mice given black tea extracts, while being overfed, halted the induced weight gain. They also increased a type of bacteria in the body that affects energy metabolism to improve weight loss (5).  More Disease Prevention

6. Reduced Risk and Development of Cancer

There are more than 1000 scientific publications that detail tea and its cancer-preventing effects.

The catechins and theaflavins of tea have been linked to the reduced risk of various types of cancers in humans, including skin, prostate, lung, and breast, in lab studies.

What’s more, there are also many reports that show tea consumption and reduced development of existing cancers (6).

7. More Disease Prevention

The list goes on and on.

Specifically, researchers have found links between daily tea consumption and reduced risk of allergic reactions, arthritis, bone loss, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease (6).

Not bad for a warm, relaxing, delicious drink.

Bottom Line

Chai tea is delicious drinks with many high-antioxidant ingredients including MCT oil powder, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and peppercorn, and black tea. The black tea components offer many proven health benefits with gentle amounts of caffeine. Improve your alertness and health with just two cups per day.