Legend has it that white tea was born around five thousand years ago when Shen Nung was emperor. His caravan was going through the rural countryside and he decided to stop and get a drink of water. Tasting the water he found it to be bitter and so he ordered the water to be boiled hopping to take the bad taste away. One of the servants places his cup full of boiled water to cool where a tea leaf flew into the emperors cup. Shen Nung not seeing the tea leaf and bud tasted the drink, fell in love with white tea and demanded white tea every day to drink.

White tea however became a treasure during the Song Dynasty in China from 960-1279. As a tribute to the emperor, the royal court, made white tea the drink of choice.

In order to produce white tea, it takes incredible care and effort. They take special care of newly planted tea bushes, cultivating and pruning them for two years before the allow them to be harvested. They steam the chosen buds and then let them dry ever so slowly. The difference between black, green and white tea is that the white tea is not rolled and is minimally oxidized. White tea is the least processed of all the tea and it is because of this that there are so many health benefits to drinking white tea.

White tea is packed with antioxidants. Antioxidants are essential nutrients that our bodies need in order to protect our bodies from free radicals. White tea is one of the best cancer preventing agents that we can use. White tea will protect you against all types of cancer such as colon, prostate and stomach cancers. In certain cases white tea has been shown to work as well as prescription drugs.

How about this - white tea can even help lower your blood pressure. White tea has been shown to thin the blood and improve the function of the arteries. This also helps protect us against strokes. There is a type of antioxidants called catechins found in white tea that have been shown to reduce cholesterol. The extra perk that white tea has to offer is that it increases good cholesterol and decreases the bad.

The combination of the above benefits then offers great overall heart protection. Drinking two or more cups of white tea a day decreases you chance of a heart attack by fifty percent according to researchers.

White tea also improves bone density and stronger than of those of people that don't drink white tea. White tea has also been shown to be a natural killer of viruses and bacteria. White tea gives our immune system and all over toning to help us better fight against a wide variety of diseases and it can also help ease the symptoms of HIV.

What I have listed is only a few of the health benefits that you get by drinking white tea. The real question isn't why should you drink white tea, it is why aren't you drinking white tea. Stronger heart, stronger bones and a stronger immune system should be enough of a reason to drink white tea and get the rest of the benefits as well.