There’s lots of blends and types of green teas available on the market, however what type is the best for your overall health?

Here we count down the 5 most effective.

Before I start, I want to explain that the antioxidant/nutrient level of any tea is also dependent on the cultivating environments and the time at which the tea is actually harvested.

And although all of these factors are frequently the ones that inevitably establish the ‘type’ of tea it is classed as, there nevertheless remains some amount of variance in nutrient/antioxidant levels in the various types of teas – depending on the quality of the tea.

5. Longjing

Longjing is actually a hugely famous Chinese green tea, and the form of leaf you will often get in supermarket and some mainstream blends of green tea.

Filled with vitamin C, amino acids, plus a powerful quantity of catechins, this unique variety of tea can also have even further incarnations – which means the amount of above mentioned vitamins and nutrients might actually change from type-to-type of LongJing.

Bai Longjing (albeit officially not a genuine LongJing tea), is said to be the one LongJing to contain the most amino acid content.

4. Kukicha

Kukicha green tea is essentially a by-product connected with sencha or gyokuro tea (see no. 2) – composed of stems, stalks along with twigs.

It is because of its simple, unrefined formula that it has become a popular staple in the ‘macrobiotic diet’ which precisely avoids the intake of refined or processed foodstuffs.

3. Schincha

Schincha is actually a Japanese green tea that essentially translates to ‘new tea’ i.e. the first, young fresh leaves of the plant that develop at the begining of Spring.

Because these leaves are picked so early, they consist of concentrated nutrients that the tea plant has held on to through the entire winter months.

Whilst it has a high vitamin and amino acid content, catechin content is rather low (which has been found to possess cancer-fighting qualities). And so, onto our number 2 ranked green tea for health qualities.

2. Gyokuro

Gyokuro is actually shade-grown for approximately the final twenty days of growth – enabling the shrubs to fill with a strong concentration of amino acids and natural vitamins.

Along with the health rewards, Gyokuro also features a distinct scent and sweet flavour shared by our number 1 positioning tea.

1. Matcha

Matcha is harvested in a really similar fashion to Gyokuro. The major variation comes about through the refinement of the tea.

Matcha is actually ground on traditional stone-mills whereas Gyokuro is left to resemble a normal green tea (dried up foliage). Because of this, with matcha, you actually ingest the tea leaves themselves.

Also , since the development process allows these leaves to fill up with a concentration of amino acids and nutritional vitamins, you will get the direct advantage of this with a degree of potency matched by not one other green tea.

So, that’s it, our top five green teas based upon their health properties.