Does Tea Help Colds

Health Tip of the Day

Tea is a delicious beverage that can help prevent nasty winter colds and flu. Just drinking one cup a day can reduce by 33% the chance of coming down with a cold or flu say Japanese scientists.

According to a National Institutes of Health paper, Japanese scientists have found that test subjects who drank one cup of tea a day contracted fewer colds than the subjects that didn’t drink tea. Additionally, test subjects who simply gargled with green tea had a lower incidence of getting ill. The scientists are still studying as to why gargling with tea helps in lowering the number of colds and flu.

Tea leaves contain substances called catechins. ECGC is the most abundant catechin in tea. ECGC is the most commonly known catechin, but there are others in tea that also help in reducing viral infections.

The researchers discovered that ECGC was found to lower the ability of the influenza A and B viruses to infect hosts by disrupting the ability of the virus to replicate.

Catechins were also found to boost the immune system helping to protect one from becoming infected.

According to Antiviral Research, green, oolong, black, and pu-erh teas were all helpful in lowering the chances of catching a cold or flu.