Health Benefits of Pu-erh Tea

Pu-erh tea (pronounced poo-air) looks and sounds funny, but the health benefits are no joke! It’s made from the same leaves as green tea, oolong tea and black tea, but it’s fermented and then aged in a high humidity. This process causes many amazing health benefits. It is used to help reduce cholesterol and it helps improve mental alertness and quick thinking. Sound too good to be true? Well, it’s not! Much like the rest of the teas out there, pu-erh tea contains caffeine, but it has much less than its relatives. It also naturally contains a substance called lovastatin, which is a prescription cholesterol drug. The hypothesis is that the bacteria that contributes to the aging process also makes the lovastatin. That’s a great fringe benefit, huh? Other studies have shown the potential for pu-erh tea to lower triglycerides, lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. The majority of these studies were done One of pu-erh tea’s most popular benefits is the ant carcinogenic property. The tea has the ability to inhibit an enzyme complex called fatty acid synthase. This complex has been linked to obesity as well as cancer. Those are some great benefits from a cup of tea!