Overview
White tea is tea made from new growth bud's and young leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis (Tea Plant). The leaves are steamed or fried to inactivate oxidation, and then dried. White tea therefore retains the high concentrations of catechins which are present in fresh tea leaves. As white teas contain buds and leaves, whereas other teas are mainly leaves, the dried tea doesn’t look green and has a pale appearance. White tea is a specialty of the Chinese province Fujian.
History
Many forms of white tea were made in the Song Dynasty. Hui Zhong, who ruled China from 1101-1125, referred to white tea as the best type of tea, and he has been credited with the development of many white teas in the Song Dynasty.
Producing white teas was extremely labor-intensive. Leaves and buds were picked from selected varietals of cultivated bushes or wild tea trees in early spring. They were immediately steamed and the buds were selected and stripped of their outer unopened leaf; only the delicate interior of the bud was reserved to be rinsed with spring water and dried. This process resulted in white teas whose leaves were paper thin and small. Once processed, the finished tea was distributed and often given as a tribute to the Song court in loose form. It was then ground to a fine, silvery-white powder that was whisked in the wide ceramic bowls used in the Song tea ceremony.
Health Benefits
Epichasin is a falconoid
contained in white tea leaf. Epichasin is very unstable in regular
condition and hard to be isolated through regular extraction process
used to obtain polyphenols or EGCG.
Therefore, very few scientific papers could be found on Epichasin
studies. An overview of current available studies unfolds some
encouraging findings.
Epichasin has been reported to show thermogenesis inducing
effect. A small size, pilot 4-week study suggests that Epichasin
treatment promotes thermogenesis, thus facilitating weight loss,
enhancing resting metabolism through more efficient heat transfer from
the body.
Another study indicates possible energy stimulation effect of
Epichasin. 30 healthy women with body mass index (BMI) from 20-27 kg/m2
were randomly assigned into 3 groups to receive 50mg, 70mg and placebo
meanwhile were fed nutritionally balanced diets for two weeks, used
anthropometry and dual x-ray absorptionmetry to assess body
composition. In the end of study, 70mg and 50mg Epichasin groups were
reported to have very significant difference in energy boosting and
decreased appetite comparing to placebo group (p<0.001). Epichasin
groups have felt more energy and decreased appetite and were scored
higher on a quality of life domain assessing vitality. 70mg Epichasin
groups also showed significant better results than 50mg group
(p<0.05). The average weight loss after study is 3 Lb. in 70mg
Epichasin group, 2.1 Lb in 50mg Epichasin group and 1.3 Lb. in control
group. This suggests that Epichasin might be a good aid in weight loss.
Further long-term study is needed on Epichasin’s weight loss effect.
Epichasin’s fatigue reducing effect is also reported. In a
self-reported study, 24 subjects were admitted to the study when their
fatigue scores were rated as high moderate to severe fatigue. There was
an average of 33% reduction in fatigue scores after first day on
Epichasin supplement and 67% reduction in fatigue ratings after one
week on Epichasin supplement.
