Couldn't Hurt. I know drinking 8+ 8oz cups of fresh tea (made with actual leaves not bags) (any color including red) can actually make the immune system destroy cancer cells. Obviously it's not a cure, and the destruction is on so small a scale that it's mainly useful for prevention (like most antioxidants), but hey, could help.
Note(s) aka "Tea in a Nutshell":
Tea Bags vs Full Leaf: Almost any tea bag you can buy (even the "gourmet" brands) contains what is known as "tea dust". This is literally the tea fragments scraped up from the bottom of the barrel/container. It increases the surface area and speeds infusion time (which is why they are more widespread). However, full leaf tea has been shown to have up to 3x the health benefits.
Red Tea (aka Rooibos tea): Red Tea is not technically tea. Black, White, and Green teas are from a plant that grows in Asia (generally China and India). Red Tea is made from a South African shrub. It was originally coined "tea" because the drying/fermentation process is identical to that of black tea. In any case, it's been shown to be the
ONLY known source of a few powerful antioxidants.
Brewing the stuff: There are a number of products out there including but not limited to a traditional tea pot. Personally, I use this:
http://www.amazon.com/Adagio-T...&qid=1191992130&sr=8-1
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/...2a9c46e521a88d2b5c0840
Only disadvantage is that you need to empty it into a container once the infusion time is up, but I've found that the 16 oz version fits nicely in my 1.1 cubic foot microwave, and fit snugly in an older .7 cubic footer I used at college. You can infuse Red tea as long as you like, but the other teas contain tannic acid, and if infused for too long this will make the tea bitter.
Sources/Prices: I generally just buy from
http://www.republicoftea.com . Black and Red full leaf tea can be had in bulk for around $30/pound, and green full leaf for ~$35-60/pound. (White full leaf is considered gourmet and is generally ~$100/pound) That's how I buy it. Adagio is also a reputable brand (see video linke above) but I haven't bought anyt of their products aside from the Ingenuitea yet (and that I got through Amazon...)
A pound of tea is a fricken brick of tea. Even at 8 cups a day, 1 pound is the better part of a year's supply. You can keep it in the bag that it comes in (assuming you seal it) but I found it easier to buy some rubbermaid containers. Also, don't expose it to heat above room temp (ie leaving it in the sun) as this will destroy a good portion of the potential health benefits.
Bottled Teas: All commercially bottled teas suffer from overexposure to heat, processing and the introduction of sweeteners and coloring. They're health benefits are greatly diminished, and it's a hell of a lot more expensive. That said, they are convenient if you're short on time, but so's bottled water.
Finally, 6-8 8 oz cups of tea sounds like a lot, but it's not that bad. Using any 16 oz tea maker, just means making tea 3-4 times a day. I generally make 16 oz in the morning to shove in my thermos for work, and make it throughout the day after I get home (total time: microwaving + infusion = 6 min, cooling time depends on the container/storage temp)
Probably more then you wanted to read, but I'm a tea enthusiast in the same way that most of the people here are computer enthusiasts. I get pissed when people think that generic super-market tea bags and commercially bottled teas are the real deal.
Aside from the health benefits, it just tastes insanely better made fresh, and can obviously be sweetened if you don't like it straight.
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