Drink Tea to Beat Diabetes

This is great news for you, because tea has been known to lower blood sugar in people with diabetes, and it’s been linked to weight loss and increased metabolism. In fact, laboratory studies show that tea can boost insulin activity by more than fifteen-fold, which of course means better blood sugar for you.

As if that wasn’t enough incentive to brew a cup, in one study, moderate tea drinkers (about 3 cups a day) had a 28% lower death rate after heart attacks than people who didn’t drink tea!

It doesn’t matter what you put in your cup—green, black, white, oolong—any kind of tea is great for you and loaded in antioxidants. There are a multitude of teas to try, and they vary in taste and level of caffeine, so grab a cup and see which type fits your palate. Here are some of the most common:
White tea is picked and harvested before the leaves have opened. It’s the least processed and caffeinated of all the teas.
Green tea is highest in antioxidants because it’s processed before enzymes have the chance to break down the compounds in the tea.
Oolong tea is dried for a longer time than green tea, allowing the enzymes to work longer. It’s about halfway between green and black tea in terms of drying time.
Black tea is the most common tea (think Earl Gray, English Breakfast and Lipton). The leaves are processed longer to oxidize more of the compounds. It’s the most caffeinated of the teas.
Chai is actually just black tea that’s combined with spices such as cardamom, cloves, pepper, and cinnamon—which is also magic for blood sugar, which means double-duty blood glucose stabilizing power!

No matter what tea suits your tastebuds, they’re ALL good for you—and tea has zero carbs and virtually no calories. So you can have several cups a day, as long as you don’t add sugar. So take a break from your coffee routine and brew a pot of tea instead!