Do you love sipping an energizing cup of green tea when you rise or a calming cup of chamomile before bedtime? You’re in luck: Tea is not just a refreshing drink — it may offer a host of health benefits. “Tea is a plant-based beverage that has been shown to have many nourishing properties,” says Vicki Shanta Retelny, RDN, the Chicago-based author of The Essential Guide to Healthy Healing Foods. “As a soothing warm or cold beverage, tea contains plant compounds called polyphenols, which are antioxidants that give tea its medicinal benefits.” For example, phytochemicals — the plant-based polyphenols in tea — may play a role in preventing or delaying cell damage and in protecting cells from cancer-causing substances, according to the Mayo Clinic. RELATED: 9 Scientific Benefits of Following a Plant-Based Diet Also, a small study published in June 2019 in the journal Aging found that, compared with those who didn’t drink tea, older adults who regularly drank tea (like green, black, or oolong) had better-organized brain regions, which is associated with healthier cognitive function. As if those perks didn’t offer enough incentive to sip, yet another study, published in January 2020 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, found that drinking tea three times a week or more was associated with living a longer life, compared with not drinking tea. Most people in the study drank the green variety, which the researchers linked to a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and dying of any cause. Keep in mind, though, that not all studies look at tea in liquid form; some research uses capsules or tablets, which may provide study participants with a more potent dose. While drinking any tea likely comes with benefits, many teas have their own distinct health perks. So pour yourself a cup and read on to discover the eight best teas for your health. 1. Green Tea May Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Promote Heart Health “Green tea, from the Camellia sinensis plant, has been revered for centuries for its medicinal properties,” says Retelny. Here’s a little tea 101: White, oolong, green, and black teas are all in the green tea family; they differ based on their level of fermentation, explains Retelny. “White tea is the delicate, unfermented leaves of the plant, oolong tea is partially fermented, green tea leaves are quickly processed to not allow for fermentation, and black tea leaves are highly fermented and oxidized, which […]