11 Chai Health Benefits
Here’s the question everyone wants to know: Is chai actually good for you? In short, if it’s an authentic style that’s not loaded with sugar, then yes. But what exactly does it do for you? To answer that you have to look at the individual ingredients that go into chai, so here are 11 health benefits from masala chai.
Black Tea
This is gonna be the most obvious one, but I feel like I HAVE to cover it (haha) so here we go: caffeine. Practically all chai’s are made with black tea which contains about a third of the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. That’s why so many people switch from coffee to chai, because it still provides a bit of a buzz, just not as intense as coffee. Of course, the actual amount of caffeine in the chai you get depends on the brand, because everyone has a different ratio. Sometimes caffeine can help with headaches too, which is nice.
Ginger
Ginger is good for lots of things, the fresher the better. It has been proven to improve circulation, and also is anti-inflammatory. This too helps with headaches, and also is commonly know to help with nausea.
Cardamom
Cardamom helps detoxify the body/helps with metabolism, as well as helping build up your immune season (Maybe try drink chai around cold and flu season!) It has many antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.
Cloves
Cloves can help with minor day-to-day aches and pains like headaches and toothaches. Also when in combination with cinnamon these are at the top of the list of herbs with the highest antioxidant levels.
Cinnamon
Lastly, cinnamon can help regulate levels of blood sugar and also may promote weight loss. It is also high in antioxidants (seems to be a theme) and lowers inflammation). Also, some studies show that cinnamon may boost your metabolism.
The verdict:
These are just some of the ingredients that go into chai, and they all have amazing health benefits individually. Put them together in a cup of chai and you have an extremely powerful, awesome drink that has amazing effects!
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If you’re reading down to here, you’re a real one :) I’m thinking of maybe making this into a series, so if you’re reading this then comment below what you think!
- your neighborhood Chai Enthusiast