The Medicinal and Health Benefits of Tea: A Historical Perspective

Using tea as a medicinal herb for health maintenance has been recorded in medical books throughout the more than four thousand years of history in China.

The earliest record can be found in "Shennong Bencao Jing" which states, "Tea has a bitter taste and drinking it can enhance thinking, reduce sleep, lighten the body, and improve eyesight." It also mentions, "Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and encountered seventy-two poisons, but was able to neutralize them with tea." Zhang Hua's "Bowuzhi" in the Jin Dynasty states, "Drinking real tea can reduce sleep." In Sun Simiao's "Qianjin Yifang" in the Tang Dynasty, it is recorded that "Tea has a slightly cold, sweet and bitter taste, is non-toxic, and is used to treat ulcers, promote urination, relieve fatigue and thirst, and reduce sleep." Lu Yu's "Cha Jing" in the Tang Dynasty states, "Tea is extremely cold in nature and is the most suitable drink... If one is suffering from thirst, congestion, headaches, watery eyes, restlessness in limbs, discomfort in the entire body, just a few sips can rival the effects of miraculous elixirs and sweet dew." Chen Cangqi's "Bencao Shi Yi" in the Tang Dynasty states, "Medicines are specific to certain diseases, but tea is a remedy for all diseases." It also states that "Drinking tea for a long time can make a person slim and reduce body fat" and "Tea can quench thirst, prevent epidemics. How valuable tea is!" Rongxi, a Japanese monk in the Southern Song Dynasty, recorded in "Eating Tea for Health Preservation" that "Tea is an immortal medicine for health preservation and longevity. If it grows in the mountains, the land becomes spiritual. If people drink it, their lives become longer." Gu Yuanqing's "Cha Pu" in the Ming Dynasty states, "Drinking real tea can quench thirst, aid digestion, eliminate phlegm, reduce sleep, promote urination, improve eyesight, enhance thinking, relieve restlessness, and reduce greasiness. A person should not go a day without tea." Li Shizhen states in his "Compendium of Materia Medica," "Tea is bitter and cold, and it can best reduce fire. Fire causes various diseases, and reducing fire can clear the upper body."

In the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zhenliang described the benefits of drinking tea as "Ten Virtues": using tea to dispel depression, drive away sleepiness, nourish vitality, eliminate disease, promote ritual and benevolence, show respect, taste flavor, cultivate the Dao, and express elegance. This understanding has elevated the health benefits of tea to the level of ritual, benevolence, elegance, and spiritual cultivation.

Through a review of ancient and modern literature from both China and abroad on the medicinal and drinking uses of tea, it can be concluded that tea not only has significant effects in anti-aging, preventing tooth decay, preventing anemia, preventing obesity, preventing and fighting cancer, and protecting against radiation, but it also has good effects in treating anemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes. Regular tea consumption can also prevent and treat colds, invigorate the mind, relieve fatigue, reduce fever and quench thirst, aid digestion, clear the mind and improve eyesight, reduce inflammation and kill bacteria, promote urination and detoxification, enhance brain function and thinking, and promote longevity and health.