Green tea has another advantage over vitamin E in that excessive amounts of antioxidants found in water soluble green tea are excreted by the body, whilst the body absorbs and retains fat-based vitamins such as vitamin E, even at potentially harmful levels. By contrast, according to papers presented at the Second International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health in Washington DC, black tea as high in antioxidants as green tea. Taking milk in tea does not dilute the medical power of the antioxidants, which are released from the tea leaves within five minutes of brewing. To gain maximum benefit from black tea, therefore, it needs to be brewed traditionally in a pot and left for five minutes before pouring. Black tea is made by exposing the leaves to air, which turns them reddish brown and gives black tea its flavor.
Green tea involves the least processing.
Oolong tea is halfway between green and black in terms of processing. And a Dutch team has found that garlic, even in low concentrations, especially when taken in conjunction with chemicals that reduce stomach acidity, also inhibits the growth of Helicobacter. Examples include epicatechin and epigallocatechin gallate. It has been shown to reduce formation of lung, oesophageal and skin tumours in research. They are strong antioxidants and have proved in research to reduce oesophageal tumours and oxidative damage to lung tissue.