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Is Organic Tea Good for Gut Health?

Advances in research have uncovered the integral role that gut health plays in our overall well-being. Scientists are discovering intriguing connections between a healthy gut and everything from digestion and immune support to elevating our moods! We'll examine the factors influencing the gut microbiome and explore six scientifically supported ways organic tea promotes gut health. Get ready to sip your way to better health with Fraser Organic Tea for gut health! The journey to wellness starts here, so let’s get started!

Getting to the Core: Happy Gut, Healthy Life

You may have heard that drinking peppermint tea helps with digestion or ginger tea is good for symptoms of nausea. Treating only the symptoms is a great place to start. However, we need to look at the root causes of these symptoms and fix it from the inside out.

What is the Gut Microbiome?

Did you know that you house trillions of tiny bacteria and other microorganisms in the digestive system? This intricate community is known as your gut microbiome (1). It plays a crucial role in how your body digests food, regulates your immune response, influences mental health, aids in weight loss, and manages inflammation. Essentially, the health of your gastrointestinal system is a cornerstone of overall wellness where prevention and healing begin.

Good vs. Bad Gut Bacteria

Factors such as poor diet choices, antibiotics, dealing with stress, and environmental influences can all lead to an imbalance in your gut bacteria. Consuming processed foods, refined sugars, alcohol, deli meats, and fried items can disrupt this delicate ecosystem allowing harmful bacteria to outnumber the beneficial ones. This imbalance can cause a range of health issues, including gas, bloating, indigestion, weakened immunity, and even mood fluctuations (2) .

Fortunately, there is no need to resort to expensive supplements. By focusing on wholesome foods, regular exercise, restful sleep, and enjoying a cup of high-antioxidant organic tea, gut health can be restored naturally.

Antioxidants and Polyphenols

You may remember from our article on the benefits of drinking tea every day that antioxidants are substances that protect your body from free radicals. These are unstable molecules that can harm cells and contribute to diseases like diabetes and cancer. Think of antioxidants as vigilant bouncers at a bar swiftly removing disruptive elements before they can cause chaos.

Among these protective compounds are polyphenols, a type of antioxidant found in high concentrations in green, black, and pu-erh teas. These powerful polyphenols not only combat oxidative stress but also support your gut microbiome setting the stage for a healthier you.

How Does Organic Tea Support the Gut Microbiome?

Organic Tea is a gut friendly powerhouse rich in antioxidants and polyphenols. These special properties may help amp up your beneficial bacteria and reduce the bad bacteria so you can get healthy and stay healthy - naturally.

Let’s review six main ways that organic tea supports your gut microbiome.

1. Fuel for Your Gut

Not only is it relaxing to sit down with a warm cup of Turmeric Ginger Tea, but it’s great for the gut’s good bacteria. Beneficial bacteria in your gut use the polyphenols found in tea as fuel to survive and multiply.

According to a scientific review in Trends in Food Science & Technology, tea phenolics from green and black tea can be considered as prebiotics. It was also noted that green tea phenolics has a slight edge over black tea as potent prebiotics (3).

Prebiotics are fuel for your existing good gut bacteria. Some examples include bananas, apples, green leafy vegetables, oats and more. However, these prebiotics can also be found in a cup of refreshing cup of Minty Green Organic Tea.

The strength of tea polyphenols as a prebiotic may be long lasting. In a study in the Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, scientists assessed how green tea alters the human intestinal and oral microbiome. After analysis of both fecal and saliva samples, it was found that drinking green tea created a greater variety of bacteria in our gut if consumed daily and it affected stools in a long-lasting way (4). Incorporating organic green tea for gut health into your daily routine can enhance your overall well-being.

Probiotics are foods or supplements that have live microorganisms to add beneficial organisms to your gut flora. Some examples include yogurt, kimchi, kefir, pickled foods, and more. Prebiotics work along with probiotics to improve digestion and bodily functions (5).

Tea polyphenols are doomsday for bad bacteria because they act as a natural antimicrobial and destroy their cell walls. For example, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) a major catechin in organic matcha tea, was able to bind directly to the mesh-like layer from the Staphylococcus aureus (bad bacteria), affecting its cell integrity and destroying the osmotic protection of the cell wall (6).

Tea polyphenols are loved by good bacteria and feared by the bad bacteria in your gut. Drinking a delicious cup of unsweetened organic tea is a delicious way to improve your gut health while adding a relaxing teatime ritual.

2. Enhances Short Chain Fatty Acids

Short chained fatty acids (SCFAs) may help with reducing body weight, diabetes, colon cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and even cardiac health (7). SCFAs are a group of fatty acids that have been shorted a couple of carbon atoms. Normally these are produced when your gut breaks down fiber.

However, the gut can also convert tea polyphenols to SCFAs, but it takes a few more steps. First, the good gut bacteria break down tea polyphenols and convert it to other compounds. Then, these metabolites can be fermented by your good gut bacteria and then this is when SCFAs are formed, and the magic happens.

A scientific review in Biology Journal examined how fermented tea, especially black teas like Morning Blend, can change gut microbiota composition. It notes that the fermentation process can enhance the production of SCFAs which play a crucial role in metabolic health and may even help you lose weight (8).

3. Gut Barrier Protection – Leaky Gut Protection

Tea is more than just a cozy beverage. It is packed with tea phenolics that may help strengthen your gut lining and prevent leaks that can lead to issues like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and obesity (9).

So how does organic tea protect you from a leaky gut? Tea antioxidants boost the production of a protective mucus barrier (mucins) which acts like a shield for your digestive system. Think of it as your gut’s gel-like bodyguard keeping everything running smoothly while promoting the growth of friendly gut bacteria.

A scientific research article in Plos One compared green tea and black tea extracts. It has been noted that green tea, which has more EGCG, had a stronger effect on the mucins than black tea. This suggests that the higher the EGCG content in the tea, the better it is at interacting with and thickening of mucin solutions (10).

So, next time you brew a cup, remember: your tea is not just warming your hands; it’s also nurturing gut healing. Drinking all organic Fraser Tea® is a much healthier alternative compared to sugary soda pops or energy drinks. Enjoying it daily may even help your gut biome to stay in balance.

4. Bile Acid Metabolism Regulation

Bile acids are substances made by your liver to help digest fats in the food you eat. They are stored in the gallbladder and released into the intestines when you eat (11). Normal production of bile acids plays a key role in keeping your digestive system running smoothly! When you consume too many dietary fats, it sends a signal to your liver to just keep pumping out more bile acids. This may cause an imbalance to your gut bacteria which can lead to obesity and more (12).

In a study in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, mice were fed either a low-fat diet, a high-fat western-style diet, or a high-fat western-style diet having epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) found in green tea. The results of the study confirmed that decreasing the bile acid reabsorption lowered intestinal bile acid levels and thus decreased the absorption of lipids (fats). More research is needed but the EGCG in green tea may help prevent metabolic abnormalities and fatty liver caused by a high-fat diet (13).

But wait! Green tea does not get all the accolades! A delicious cup of Spicy Chocolate Chai or an Organic Pu-erh Tea has theabrownin. This powerhouse polyphenol theabrownin is formed when Pu-erh tea goes through the fermentation process with enzymes and microbial activation. Theabrownin may increase specific types of bile acids that can send messages, so less cholesterol is made through the liver, and more is excreted (14).

5. Anti-inflammatory Protection: Best Tea for Gut Inflammation

Have you ever had a stomach bug or food poisoning? If so, you know how harsh your body’s immune response can be. I’m certain you will be glad when it’s finally over and you can recover with a little gut healing Chamomile Dream Organic Herbal Tea.

However, many individuals suffer from chronic inflammation of the gut with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). IBD’s are not just inconvenient. They can even lead to tissue damage and other health issues. (15)

Your good gut bacteria protect your gut lining. If the bad bacteria overrun the beneficial bacteria, it can cause permeability in your gastrointestinal lining. As a result, toxins can get into your bloodstream and cause inflammation.

The problem is the revolving door syndrome. The more the inflammation, the more permeability in the gut and then more inflammation – so the buck stops here. How do we stop the inflammation cycle? Working with your physician is the first and most key step in the healing process. Secondly, communication with your doctor so that they understand your diet and any supplements you are taking – that includes tea.

Black and green teas have been found to be the best teas to reduce gut inflammation. A study in the Nutrition Food Science Technology, found that black tea can lower some of the inflammatory substances in the intestines which are linked to some of the IBD’s. Black tea was also found to boost the number of healthy bacteria to enhance the gut wall's structure. (16)

Green teas can also influence the gut biome by increasing the beneficial bacteria. Research reviews have noted it’s the special catechins in green tea that help reduce inflammation in the gut (17).

6. Gut-Brain Connection

Have you ever noticed that you get butterflies before a big presentation or walking into a job interview? The gut-brain axis is bi-directional. It directly connects the gastrointestinal system with the central nervous system. This complicated pathway also includes endocrine, metabolic, immune pathway, and other forms of communication. In addition, if your gut microbiome gets out of order it can affect our brain chemistry and even our mental health (18).

Today, scientists are attributing many mood disorders like anxiety and depression due to the lack of beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in the gut (19). Organic teas’ polyphenols can feed this beneficial bacterium and possibly increase gut health.

Theaflavins, EGCG, and theabrownin in tea may all help boost the immune cells through an overly complex gut-brain axis pathway and gut-liver axis. This complex bi-directional pathway can provide neuroprotection and calm the mind (20). Black, green, and Pu-erh teas may be some of the best teas for intestinal health and a calm mind. 

Improve Gut Health with Organic Tea

An imbalance in your gut microbiome can affect your overall health. Drinking antioxidant packed all organic Fraser Tea® daily can be a healthy prebiotic to fuel good gut bacteria, prevent a leaky gut, regulate bile acids, work as an anti-inflammatory, and calm the mind. The best type of tea for gut health is an organic green, black, or Pu-erh.

Want to learn more? Be sure to Explore our website and learn more about tea basics, wellness, origins of tea, tea traditions and new recipes using tea.

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Please Note: Before starting any change to your diet and routine, you should always discuss this with your primary care physician first and make sure that it does not interfere with any health conditions or your current medications.

Disclaimer: This website is not intended for the purpose of medical advice. All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Sources

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