Making the Grade No matter where and how a black tea is grown, it's all processed the same way: withering and bruising fresh leaves to encourage oxidation, then drying.

Researchers found that compounds in black and green tea leaves acted like “little Velcro” hooks on lead molecules.

Brewing tea removes lead from water High surface area of the tea leaves means they can adsorb toxic metals released by the boiling water.

Both green and black tea contain many powerful antioxidants. Learn whether green or black tea may be better for your health.

Next, they added different types of tea leaves – both loose and commercially bagged – to those samples, then allowed them to steep for anywhere from a few seconds up to 24 hours.

We sipped over 50 teas to identify which were the healthiest and most delicious. Here’s how experts ranked the top teas — from green, to black, herbal, and more.

There’s growing evidence that those who regularly drink true teas may have a lower risk of a heart attack, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, cognitive decline and other health problems.

Finely ground tea leaves, particularly black tea leaves, adsorbed slightly more metal ions than whole leaves. Again, the researchers attributed this to surface area.

Both green tea and black tea offer health benefits like boosting alertness and supporting heart and brain health, but each has subtle differences in composition and properties.

Researchers tested different types of tea, tea bags and brewing methods. Finely ground black tea leaves performed best at removing toxic heavy metals.