Talking Tea

Just the other day I actually went to the trouble of blending a batch of tea just for me.  I find that now that I am making so many more items for sale (internet business for the Backyard Patch has been good recently!) I rarely blend something solely for my own use.  I had just dried some Lemon verbena and the freshly dried leaves made me crave some Zesty Lemon Tea.  In the process of making and drinking tea, I grabbed a book off the shelf and found this poem about tea:

The 1st cup caresses my lips.
The 2nd shatters my lonely sadness.
The 3rd sparks my intellect.
The 4th flushes out grievances.
The 5th purifies my every cell.
The 6th connects me with the divine.
The 7th prepares me for paradise.

- Lu Tong, Chinese poet, 798-835 

Hold on. Aren't Lu Tong's seven cups of tea overdoing it? Not really. Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist and director, Whole Foods, says that even up to eight cups a day is fine. Typically, however, she recommends three to four cups, for that is enough to provide you the great benefits found in tea.

"It's got antioxidants, and its goodness provides protection against heart disease and cancer. It also fights stomach infections and improves brain function, besides boosting the mind and de-stressing you," she adds.  

Now I have always had a sensativity to caffien so if I want to sleep at night those 7 cups better be mostly caffien-free hrerbal teas, but putting htat asside for a moment, there are many virtues of green and black tea.

Green and black tea come from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The leaves are simply processed differently, and that is the only difference.  

Tea speeds up the body's metabolic rate and for an average-weight person, drinking normal amounts of tea could burn off an extra 70 calories a day. That's what 12 minutes of walking would usually achieve.

Both forms of tea are high sources of antioxidants, with research suggesting that they have upto 10 times polyphenols, which are usually present in fruits and vegetables. Polyphenols are a type of antioxidants. These wonder nutrients scavenge for cell-damaging free radicals in the body and detoxify them.

In that sense, tea packs in more punch than a vitamin pill. It also lowers your cholesterol levels and speeds up the recovery of heart cells after an attack. Tea is good news for the middle-aged. Its antioxidants keep you looking radiant and young; it is hydrating, and so long as you don't make it extra calorific with spoonfuls of sugar and dollops of cream, it could be the perfect substitute for water. Hydrated skins never look wrinkled, so that should be incentive enough to drink tea — especially if you are not the type to drink enough water in its natural form.
Another boon for the 40-plus — tea cuts the risk of rheumatoid arthritis and could even keep you safe from Alzheimer's as it boosts brain functions. Most people can't get out of bed without a hot cup of tea — which is really fine and is a good habit, as tea is a good friend for life. So, drink up!