How Tea May Provide Relief for Rheumatoid Arthritis

If you suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis, millions of American’s can sympathize with you.  You would think that this debilitating condition is something that you’ll just have to accept for the remainder of your aging life, but actually there are a few things you can do to help alleviate the pain.  One solution is not so obvious but it is ridiculously simple: Drink tea!

Black, Green, White, Ginger, Rooibos and Oolong teas are stuffed full with polyphenols, plant-derived compounds that improve the immune system and may protect against certain diseases, especially arthritis, by blocking inflammatory chemicals in your body. For the hundreds of millions of tea drinkers worldwide, tea is both soothing and nourishing, and for the 55-million people who suffer from arthritis, tea is a viable treatment for achy joints.

Medicinal Background-

There are particular chemicals in tea that have been shown to reduce inflammation, the main symptom of rheumatoid arthritis, which as everyone knows who suffers from this condition, can lead to a lot of pain and a loss of mobility. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, aside from the immediate relief tea might provide rheumatoid arthritis sufferers, it has also been shown to reduce joint damage over time by slowing cartilage deterioration.

According to Dr. Jack Bukowski, a Brigham and Women’s Hospital rheumatologist in Boston, tea drinking boosts T-cells’ ability to react against bacterial and viral infections, and this helps you fight off colds and flu. It’s common for arthritis sufferers to take immuno-suppresive medication to help with the pain, but unfortunately, these medications also make folks more susceptible to infection.  Teas can counteract this, as it helps to resurrect your immune system.

Some studies are showing that teas’ anti-inflammatory properties are a result of EGCG, a substance in green tea that halts arthritis development and progression by blocking Interleukin-1, a pro-inflammatory cell, from damaging cartilage. Many other benefits of tea are being discovered, such as tea’s ability to protect you against Alzheimer’s, as well as slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis by inhibiting inflammation and neural damage.

Green tea can also promote healthy skin cell growth, which helps with psoriasis and wound conditions. Other studies show that tea can promote a healthy heart by lowering triglyceride and cholesterol levels, and the Polyphenols in tea might kill certain cancer cells.

The Best Teas-

While there are a variety of different tasting teas, black, oolong, white and green teas come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, a white-flowering shrub in the evergreen family. Processing the buds and leaves differently produces the different teas. Herbal teas come from other plants with varying antioxidant levels. Black tea is fermented, and green and white teas contain the highest levels of polyphenol levels because they’re less processed. Your polyphenol blood levels will drop shortly after you drink your last sip, so try to drink several cups over the course of a day to keep your polyphenol levels consistently elevated.

Guest post by: David Novak. For more information, visit healthline.com.