The history of green tea is actually quite interesting. The consumption of green tea in China began more than 4,000 years ago. Back then, the Chinese found that there were many green tea benefits, such as eliminating headaches and aiding with digestion. Green tea was used for medicinal purposes as well as a traditional beverage. In many parts of Asia, different cultures throughout history used green tea to heal wounds, bleeding, and to regulate the body’s blood sugar and temperature.
In fact, there was even a book in 600-900 CE about how one should prepare and drink a cup of green tea properly. This is very important because it explains that while there was research on green tea then. However, what is more important is that the different cultures valued green tea so much to want to preserve its history in a book.
Even in 1121 C.E. there were books about the health benefits of drinking green tea. Author Eisai, a Zen priest, described how green tea could be used to cure certain diseases, hangovers, and infections. Similarly, he continues to describe how green tea could be used as a stimulant to improve digestion, urinary and brain functions. This is very interesting because the impact of green tea was so important to healers and priests that they had to write about it. Without these primary documents, we might not know the rich history and impact of green tea in Asia and how it became increasingly popular around the world. Who knew that such a drink is as rich in nutrients as it is in history?