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Health Benefits of Tea

The Health Benefits of Green Tea Simply Astound Me

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We’re all familiar with the health benefits of green tea. We spend a great deal of time on this tea blog praises the benefits of all teas, but green tea seems to pack an extra punch.

If you’re one of the many (make that MANY) people interested in watching their weight, or even in losing weight, green tea should become your new favorite drink. Here are a few obvious reasons:

  1. Green tea is calorie free.
  2. Drinking green tea keeps you from drinking calorie-laden or sodium-rich drinks.

I’ll be the first to confess, I struggled with soft drinks.  I was hooked on them throughout high school as well as into my twenties and beyond (we won’t go into how far beyond reaches, it’ll just give me a headache).   When I was somewhere in the early-thirties range, my metabolism turned on me. We’d always been very close friends, then all of a sudden, she became a raging lunatic. Despite my pleas, she tormented me with neglect. I realized that if she refused to be of any help, I’d have to start cutting back on calories.  I took a good look at the number of calories I consumed each day simply by drinking soft drinks.

Imagine my shock when I realized that I drank over 600 calories each day. One can of Dr. Pepper (my weapon of choice at the time) has 150 calories. I easily drank 4 cans a day.  If we were to be honest, it was probably more.

I switched to Diet Dr. Pepper and about 10 pounds came off almost immediately. How could it not, right?!  I didn’t realize, of course, that I was taking my sodium count to dangerous levels at the time.  I also failed to acknowledge that each can (or glass) did me absolutely no good whatsoever.  In fact, each one did harm.

I finally caught on to the insanity of drinking what is essentially poison and replaced my diet soft drinks with tea and another favorite, iced coffee.  It’s great to know that my drinks now do positive things for my body and mind.

Here’s a little trick for making green tea even healthier:  Add a little citrus.  Whether you add a lemon wedge, orange wedge, or splash of juice to your green tea – you’ll help your body benefit from the antioxidants.  Vitamin C actually helps your body to absorb more antioxidants from green tea.

Not only is green tea incredibly healthy for your body and mind, it can be a wonderful weight loss aid. For one thing, as we said, drinking green tea will keep you from drinking unhealthy, often calorie-rich drinks. Every wasted calorie saved is vital in weight loss and management.  Green tea has also been shown to help increase your metabolism and force it to become a friend instead of a foe.

Many people also say that green tea reduces their appetite.  I’ve read countless accounts of people drinking a cup of green tea about an hour before a meal in an effort to eat less.  I have to be honest though: Unless you are dangerously overweight, I personally wouldn’t go this route.  For one thing, we need to eat a well-rounded amount of food. We need the nutrients for optimum health.  Besides, if you don’t have a healthy, filling meal – you’ll just make up for it later by snacking and that’s almost always worse.

Ideally, we should all eat a healthy diet consumed mostly of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish.  We should not ever waste any calories with our drink choices.  That’s just insane, if we think about it. If you aren’t already a huge fan of green tea (as well as other teas for that matter), make today the day you take the first step in a beautiful relationship.

Find the tea blend and the tea brand that you love best and vow to never leave its side.  Check out the tea aisle in your favorite store or never leave your house and Shop for tea on Amazon.

If you have to add a little flavoring to your tea, go with citrus or even a little honey. If you reach for white sugar, you’re pretty much defeating the purpose when it comes to counting calories.

If you have to add Stevia in order to make peace with green tea, do so.  It’s STILL healthier than soft drinks or diet soft drinks.  However, I think you may be surprised at how wonderful green tea is without any sweetening.

 

Lipton’s Island Mango and Peach White Tea

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Confession: I’m a sucker for any product that has “island” in the title. I pretty much live for my annual beach vacation, and those marketing people know where to hit suckers like me. But this tea could be called “XYZ Tea” and it would still be one of the best teas I’ve ever had. Seriously, Lipton’s Island Mango and Peach tea is good.

For starters, the tea comes in pyramid-shaped bags, which allows the leaves a lot more room to spread, allowing for a smooth, rich flavor to flow into the cup. The leaves are infused with actual pieces of fruit, which gives the tea a REAL fruit taste – something authentic – as opposed to the flat flavor found in a lot of “fruity teas”. The box comes with 18 of these bags, and each bag packs 75mg of flavonoids per oz. serving. Ahhh, the healthy deliciousness of this tea.

This is technically a white tea, although the ingredients also lists green tea, along with rose hips, lemon grass, orange leaves, and a few other natural ingredients. I always drink this tea hot – the scent is pretty killer – but it also makes a great iced tea.

This is one of my favorite teas and one that I always make sure is in my cabinet. I recommend it for anyone that loves white tea, green tea, fruit tea, herbal tea, orange or peach tea, healthy and nutritious drinks…or has a pulse. That means you, buddy.

Green Tea Can Prevent, and May Even Help Cure, Cancer. It’s Cool Like That.

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Kent & Sussex Summer Raspberry Green Tea

I read a fascinating (make that FASCINATING) article earlier on Prevention.com. The article was about foods and drinks that not only prevent cancer, they have the nutrients, antioxidants, and compounds needed to even CURE cancer.

See why fascinating appears in all caps?

The article is the result of the phrase Physician, Heal Thyself  playing out.  The author, David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD was diagnosed with Brain cancer. He KNEW the power of different foods and drinks, so he began the fight of his life… at the table. He discovered a multitude of cancer-fighting foods that allowed him to live longer than anyone would have ever thought possible. How much longer? Well, he wrote the article 16 years after his diagnosis. 16 years!

I hope you’ll click through to read the rest of the article (I’ll link to it at the bottom), but I wanted to share with you what he had to say about tea. I learned a few things about my good friend Green Tea, and I think you will as well.

This article, like so many others, is absolute proof of the soundness of replacing soft drinks and diet soft drinks with tea. Soft drinks won’t help you keep from getting cancer and they won’t do a thing for those who already have it. Tea, on the other hand, has superhero properties and would love nothing more than to save your life.

Here’s the excerpt concerning tea:

Green tea is rich in compounds called polyphenols, including catechins (and particularly EGCG), which reduce the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors. It’s also a powerful antioxidant and detoxifier (activating enzymes in the liver that eliminate toxins from the body), and it encourages cancer cell death. In the laboratory, it has even been shown to increase the effect of radiation on cancer cells.

Japanese green tea (sencha, gyokuro, matcha, etc.) contains more EGCG than common varieties of Chinese green tea, making it the most potent source on the market; look in Asian groceries and tea shops. Black and oolong teas, commonly used to produce popular tea blends such as Earl Grey, are less effective because they’ve been fermented, which destroys a large proportion of their polyphenols. Decaffeinated green teas, which retain the polyphenols despite the process of decaffeination, are also an option if you’re sensitive to caffeine.

How to Drink It: Sip 2 to 3 cups a day within an hour of brewing. Green tea must be steeped for at least 5 to 8 minutes–ideally 10–to release its catechins, but it loses its beneficial polyphenols after an hour or two. – From Prevention’s Edible Healing: Food Cures for Cancer: A doctor with a malignant tumor sets out to find his cure. And comes back with dinner. By David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD.

Please read the entire article: Foods that Fight and Prevent Cancer. There are foods that actually cause cancer cells to commit suicide!

In a shocking twist, green tea is still good for you.

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Kent & Sussex Summer Raspberry Green Tea

 

Reuters Health is reporting on a Chinese study conducted on the effects of green tea on cholesterol. Not surprisingly to us green tea groupies, the tea was found to lower LDL, or the “bad cholesterol” by almost 2%. Here’s the article from the Reuters website:

Drinking green tea seems to cut “bad” cholesterol, according to a fresh look at the medical evidence.

The finding may help explain why green tea has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, the leading killer worldwide, Xin-Xin Zheng and colleagues from Peking Union Medical College in Beijing report.

Because few people in the U.S. drink green tea, encouraging Americans to down more of the brew could have significant health benefits, the researchers write in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Still, one U.S. expert cautioned the drink shouldn’t be used as medicine for high cholesterol, as the effect found in the Chinese study was small.

The new report pools the results of 14 previous trials. In each of those studies, researchers randomly divided participants into two groups: one that drank green tea or took an extract for periods ranging from three weeks to three months, and one that got an inactive preparation.

On average, those who got green tea ended up with total cholesterol levels that were 7.2 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) lower than in the comparison group. Their LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol dropped 2.2 mg/dL — a decrease of slightly less than two percent.

There was no difference in HDL, or “good,” cholesterol between the two groups.

The cholesterol-lowering effects of green tea may be due to chemicals known as catechins, which decrease the absorption of cholesterol in the gut, according to the researcher.

However, the cholesterol reduction with green tea is pretty small, cautioned Nathan Wong, who runs the heart disease prevention program at the University of California, Irvine.

He told Reuters Health the drink “should not be recommended in place of well-proven cholesterol-lowering medicines for people with high cholesterol.”

Some researchers have raised concerns over possible side effects from heavy consumption of green tea or green tea extracts. For instance, there have been a few dozen reports of liver damage, and green tea may also interact with certain medications to reduce their effectiveness.

Still, Wong said smaller doses of the brew “could be a useful component of a heart-healthy diet,” with benefits that may go beyond its effect on cholesterol.

SOURCE: bit.ly/kPFJLS; American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online June 29, 2011.

Jaipur Avenue Cardamom Chai Tea Mix: Excellent!

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Jaipur Avenue Cardamom Chai Tea Mix

I had a delicious, aromatic mug of Jaipur Avenue’s Cardamom Chai Tea last night and loved every drop.  It’s right up there with the Original Masala for me (read my review of Jaipur Avenue’s Original Masala Chai Tea Mix). Like the Masala, the Cardamom has the exotic, deliciousness you expect from chai tea.  It may have been a hint sweeter, but if I weren’t looking for a difference, I doubt I would have noticed much of one.  For someone as obsessed with Chai Tea Lattes as I am, this is a GREAT thing!

Product Features

  • Authentic Indian chai tea spiced with cardamom.
  • All-natural ingredients. No preservatives and food additives.
  • Mix contains premium black tea, dry milk powder, a delicate blend of exotic spices, and minimal amount of sugar.
  • Easy to prepare – add hot water for a cup of heartwarming chai, or chilled milk and ice for a cool, refreshing summer drink.
  • A box contains 15 individually packed servings. Each packet makes an 8-ounce cup.

Benefits of the herbs found in Jaipur Avenue’s Cardamon Chai Tea Mix:

  • beneficial to kidneys
  • beneficial to lungs
  • beneficial to heart
  • anti-inflammatory
  • aids digestion
  • stimulates metabolism

To learn more about Jaipur Avenue, visit their website.

Order Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mix Cardamom on Amazon.

I’ll have the review of the Vanilla Chai Tea Mix up tomorrow.  I really look forward to this tea, in fact I’m just seconds away from my first taste.

Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mix, Make Chai Tea Lattes at Home!

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Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea

I love what I do and I do what I love. That’s the thought that skipped through my mind as I drank a hot mug of Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea.

As a tea review blogger, I have the enviable blessing of testing and reviewing tea. Yay me!  As a result, I was sent a beautiful set of Chai Tea Mixes from Jaipur Avenue.  This was a special thrill for me because I am the biggest fan of Chai Tea Lattes on earth or off.  The Starbucks baristas within a three state radius know me, on site, and know to have a grande Chai Tea Latte waiting for me, with a smile.  Actually, take that back, I don’t care whether they’re smiling or not.

I also really like Panera Bread’s Chai Tea Latte but I have to admit, I tend to get iced green tea when I’m anywhere near Panera.

I’ve tried many times to create my own versions of Chai Tea Lattes at home but they somehow always lack that certain special exotic magic.  Until now, that is.  Jaipur Avenue’s Chai Tea mixes allow you to have Coffeehouse Chai Tea Lattes without stepping foot out of your home.  They’re as fast and easy and boiling water (probably because that’s all that’s involved) and taste so exceptional that you’ll lose yourself completely in each sip.

My set included the following flavors:

  • Original Masala
  • Cardamom
  • Ginger
  • Vanilla
  • Saffron

I’ve only had the Chai mixes a couple of days, so I’ve only (so far!) tried the Original Masala and the Saffron. I’ll give reviews for the other flavors as I try them… as in tonight and tomorrow.

Jaipur Avenue Original Masala

Jaipur Avenue Original Masala Chai Tea Mix

The first chai mix I tried from Jaipur Avenue was the Original Masala. With the name, I assumed this would be the one that tasted most similar to coffeehouse Chai Tea Lattes. I was right, except for one tiny detail – It’s better! The fragrant mixture of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and peppercorn had me floating on air before I even tasted it.  After one taste, I was in Chai Tea Heaven and wasn’t sure I ever wanted to return to earth.  When giving reviews, I always like to give the first words that pop into my head, as these are usually the most descriptive and accurate.  After one taste, I thought, “Exotic. Flavorful. Delicious. It tastes like I’m actually in India!”

This is what Chai Tea Lattes are supposed to taste like.

The health benefits of the spices in Original Masala are nearly as impressive as the flavor:

  • stimulates metabolism
  • aids digestion
  • boosts immune system
  • relieves nausea

Original Masala Chai Tea Mix Features

  • Authentic Indian chai tea spiced with vanilla
  • All-natural ingredients. No preservatives and food additives.
  • Mix contains premium black tea, dry milk powder, a delicate blend of exotic spices, and minimal amount of sugar.
  • Easy to prepare – add hot water for a cup of heartwarming chai, or chilled milk and ice for a cool, refreshing summer drink.
  • A box contains 15 individually packed servings. Each packet makes an 8-ounce cup.

Order Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mix Vanilla on Amazon.

Jaipur Avenue Saffron Chai Tea Mix

Jaipur Avenue Saffron Chai Tea Mix

I’ll be honest, I was a little leery of the word Saffron and wasn’t sure what to expect from this particular Chai Tea Mix. However, the Original Masala blew me away so completely that I was confident enough to try one of its friends.  The Saffron Chai Tea Mix has the similar exotic flavor and intense deliciousness of the original.  It’s outstanding!  The main difference I noticed was that the Saffron Chai Tea seemed a little bit sweeter and had a distinct extra flavor that my mind processed as “pretty.”  Strange description, I know, but truth be told my mind can often be a strange playground.  I honestly love the Saffron, almost as much as I do the Original Masala.

The Saffron Chai Tea Mix has less of a “Chai” flavor than the original, or than any Chai teas I’ve had.  It would be ideal for anyone who isn’t into Chai (you know who you are, Emily).

Saffron Tea Chai Tea Mix Features

  • Authentic Indian chai tea spiced with saffron
  • All-natural ingredients. No preservatives and food additives.
  • Mix contains premium black tea, dry milk powder, a delicate blend of exotic spices, and minimal amount of sugar.
  • Easy to prepare – add hot water for a cup of heartwarming chai, or chilled milk and ice for a cool, refreshing summer drink.
  • A box contains 15 individually packed servings. Each packet makes an 8-ounce cup.

Health Benefits of the spices in Saffron Chai Tea Mix:

  • antidepressant
  • antioxidant
  • antiseptic
  • relieves stress
  • aids digestion
  • protects body against infections

Buy Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mix Saffron on Amazon.

 

 

About Jaipur Avenue

Since ancient times, chai has been a daily tradition shared with friends and family all over India.  Served any time of the day, this freshly brewed blend of black tea, milk, and exotic spices is the perfect beverage to soothe your soul and refresh your mind.

The faraway Indian city of Jaipur, famous for its royal palaces, colorful culture and romantic charm, epitomizes the ancient chai tradition at its best.  Jaipur Avenue is your instant passage to this magical land through an enthralling chai experience you can enjoy anywhere, anytime.   – Jaipur Avenue

Whether you like, love, or (currently) loathe chai tea, I strongly urge you to try Jaipur Avenue’s Chai Tea mixes. This is unlike any Chai Tea Lattes or drinks you’ve had before.  You simply pour the mix into your mug, add boiling water, stir, and escape.  There’s absolutely no need for sweeteners of any kind, milk, creamer, or anything else.  Fact is, adding anything to this remarkable tea mix would be just plain wrong.  Click through any of the links in this post or either of the images below to learn more.

Order Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea Mix Saffron on Amazon.

Be sure to watch for my reviews of the other flavors: Vanilla, Cardamom, and Ginger.  Vanilla’s next up. In fact, I find that I’m not doing anything at the moment….

Jaipur Avenue Original Masala Chai Tea

Jaipur Avenue Saffron Chai Tea

EDIT: Emily (Little Miss “I don’t like Chai Tea“) tried some of the Saffron Chai Tea from Jaipur Avenue yesterday and LOVED it.  She’s coming around and I knew Jaipur Avenue would be the one to make her see the light.

Add Milk to Your Tea? Not So Fast!

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The Republic of Tea Organic Raspberry Leaf SuperHerb Tea For Women's Health

We’re all familiar with the amazing health benefits of tea – green tea, black tea, and white tea are touted for many benefits, in addition to tasting spectacular. Beyond spectacular. One of the benefits tea is most applauded for its effects on cardiovascular health. But did you know that adding milk to your favorite tea actually NEGATES (as in wipes out) these benefits?  When it comes to tea, the answer to the age old question of, “Got Milk?” is “I hope not!”

According to the experts, the culprits in milk is a group of proteins called caseins. When these guys interact with tea, they actually decrease the concentration of catechin (the flavonoids in tea that are responsible for its protective effects against heart disease!).

“There are a lot of studies that show that tea is protective against cardiac diseases,” said lead researcher Dr. Verena Stangl, professor of cardiology at the Charite Hospital, Universitatsmedizin-Berlin, in Germany. “If you look at the studies, you see that in Asia there are less cardiac diseases, but in England that’s not the case. So the question is, is the addition of milk a reason for this difference between Asia and England, where tea is often taken with milk?”

From the Ceylon Tea Company:

In the study, 16 healthy postmenopausal women drank either half a liter of freshly brewed black tea, black tea with 10 percent skimmed milk, or boiled water on three different occasions under similar conditions. The researchers then measured the function of the cells lining the brachial artery in the forearm, using high resolution ultrasound before and two hours after tea consumption.

Stangl’s team found that black tea significantly improved the ability of the arteries to relax and expand. “But when we added milk, we found the biological effect of tea was completely abolished,” she said.

Additional experiments on rat aortas and rat endothelial cells — which line blood vessels — found that tea relaxed the vessels. But adding milk blunted the effect.

“If you want to drink tea for its health effects, don’t drink it with milk,” Stangl said.

The study findings are published in the Jan. 9 online edition of the European Heart Journal.

Stangl noted that not only does milk block tea’s benefits for blood vessels, it also destroys the antioxidant effects of tea and perhaps its cancer-protective effects as well.

She said her team is also comparing the effects of green and black tea on the function of blood vessels. “It’s a question whether green tea, with its higher catechin content, is better than black tea in regard to endothelial function,” she said.

One expert agreed that you should hold the milk when drinking tea.

“This is actually something we tell patients to do — not to have milk in tea,” said Dr. Robert Vogel, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland Medical School.

Tea is one of the greatest sources of antioxidants, Vogel said. “In countries where they drink a lot of tea, heart disease is decreased, except for the British Isles. It is typical in Great Britain to add milk.”

Vogel’s advice is simple. “Add lemon not milk. You should not add milk or cream to tea — it’s a very good drink, but not with milk,” he said.

Green tea may help maintain good health, post-menopause

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Kent & Sussex Summer Raspberry Green Tea

Ahhhh, yes. Another article singing the praises of sweet, sweet green tea. The article below talks about the polyphenols in green tea vitamin supplements helping women improve bone health and lower stress. While this currently isn’t a problem for me (I’m 26 going on 15), I look forward to green tea making me a very happy person for years to come. Read on!

Plenty of Americans drink green tea for its taste and mild caffeine content, but a new study has found that a substance found in the beverage – as well as in some dietary supplements – may help women stay healthy after menopause.

Called polyphenols, this class of compounds was found to reduce inflammation and improve bone health, in a study led by researchers at the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health at the Texas Tech University.

Scientists did not ask participants to drink green tea, however. Instead, the study’s 171 postmenopausal women were given daily vitamin supplements containing 500 milligrams of the substance. This amount is the equivalent of four to five cups of unsweetened green tea.

The research team found that after six months on such a regimen, participants displayed better bone health and fewer bloodborne markers of oxidative stress.

Polyphenols are known to act as an antioxidant, preventing highly charged ions called free radicals for damaging cell parts and fast-tracking both inflammation and the aging process.

Besides improving cellular and bone health, herbal supplements that contain green tea extract may improve mood and overall well-being.

Source: Better Health Research

 

Find your inner Zen. Or fake it with this tea.

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I’m gonna be honest with you: even tea-loving happy crazy chicks get down. Today was one of those days….I was stressed, tense as could be, had a bad headache, and was down in the freaking dumps. A couple of things had depressed me and I was rocking some major sleep debt. Fast-forward to this evening, and s’all good, thanks to a big ole steaming mug of Tazo’s Zen Green Tea. Okay, and some retail therapy, but MOSTLY due to my cup of deliciousness.

I’m a sucker for the taste of mint, especially in chocolate or tea, and this green tea doesn’t let me down. There’s something very relaxing about the smell, not to mention the taste. Spearmint leaves, one of the main ingredients, are well-known for curing headaches, possibly relieving pain, and acting in an anti-inflammatory manner.

So now here I sit, once-again in a chipper, laughing (slightly annoying?) mood, at peace with all and sending many happy thoughts to the good people at Tazo.

Green Tea Blesses Your Heart

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Hot Green Tea

Green Tea Lowers Your Risk of Heart Disease

In the latest issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, researchers reported that people who drink green tea have better blood vessel function just 30 minutes later. Inside of an hour, your heart is already enjoying benefits!

For the study, researchers gave either green tea, hot water, or a beverage containing the same caffeine as green tea to a group of volunteers. The researchers measured the volunteer’s blood flow 30, 90, and 120 minutes after drinking their beverages.

After drinking green tea, the volunteers experienced significantly increased artery widening. The widening was evident after just 30 minutes. The other beverages (the caffeinated beverage and hot water did not produce any significant changes in the same individuals).

According to WebMD.com, it comes down to endothelial cells. Green tea improves the function of these cells. Mini Cardiovascular lesson: Unhealthy, uncooperative endothelial cells play a key role in the development of clogged arteries. Clogged arteries, of course, lead to every cardiovascular evil you can imagine.

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