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Steep a cup of tea ...for the health of it.

It's a wintry afternoon and you've just come in from your favorite fishing hole, where the only thing biting is the wind. Chilled to the bone, you need something to warm you from the inside out. But before lunging for the coffee or the Swiss Miss, know this: There's a hot, soothing beverage that has half the caffeine of coffee, none of the sugar of cocoa, and may help to ward off cancer, heart attack, stroke - even tooth decay. Of course, we're talking about tea - black, green or oolong.

SAME LEAF, DIFFERENT TEA

Black, green and oolong teas all begin with the leaves of the same white-flowered evergreen, Camellia sinensis. The difference is in the processing: Black tea leaves are fermented fully, oolong partially and green not at all.

Black tea leaves are further sorted and graded according to size. The largest, best-quality whole leaves are labeled orange pekoe, followed by pekoe and pekoe souchang. (Note that "orange" refers to size and quality, not flavor.) Smaller or crushed leaves are classified as broken orange pekoe, broken pekoe, fannings or dust. Most of the bagged teas sold in the U.S. contain these black tea bits; they're used in popular blends such as English and Irish Breakfast teas, as well as in scented and spiced varieties (not to be confused with herbals; see " If It's Herbal, It Ain't Tea ") such as jasmine and Earl Grey. Though green tea has of late gained ground in the West, black still reigns as America's favorite tea, accounting for a full 95% of all that we drink. But whether your cup of tea is black or green, whole-leaf or bagged bits, recent studies suggest that tea is not only good, but good for you.

IT'S ALL IN THE ANTIOXIDANTS

For years scientists have been singing the praises of antioxidants, powerful dietary compounds that work in our bodies to neutralize free radicals (reactive oxygen molecules) before they can oxidize, or "rust," healthy cells and contribute to aging, heart dis ease, cancer and more. Among the more championed antioxidants are vitamins C, E and beta carotene, but these "supernutrients" don't battle alone. The plant kingdom, scientists are learning, offers a vast menu of antioxidants, including a group of potent compounds called flavonoids, found in many fruits and vegetables as well as in green and black tea. "Tea contains several dozen flavonoid compounds," notes Jeffrey Blumberg, chief of the antioxidants research laboratory at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. "Two cups of tea gives you about the equivalent amount of flavonoids as a typical serving of vegetables."