What are antioxidants and free radicals?
Antioxidants help to protect the body from potentially harmful substances called free radicals. Occurring in the environment and naturally produced by the body, free radicals can damage tissues, cells and genes contributing to the development of several serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. Flavonoids are special types of phytochemicals found in black and green tea and some fruits and vegetables. Tea has one of the highest total flavonoid contents of all plants at 15% of the leaf by dry weight and is also the major source of flavonoids in the UK diet, providing approximately 80% of dietary flavonoids for the population as a whole. Tea flavonoids are water-soluble and a cup of UK tea that has been allowed to brew for 40-60 seconds will typically deliver approximately 140mg of flavonoids. The longer the tea is left to brew, the higher the concentration of flavonoids.
