Nowadays tea sipping can not only delight the senses, but it just might be good for your health as well.
It’s true. New research shows that regular consumption of tea has been linked to lower risk of both heart disease and cancer.
And these days, flavored teas come in an abundance of lip-smacking varieties like ginger-peach, passion fruit, apple-cinnamon, vanilla-almond and peppermint. You can drink it hot, iced and with sugar or lemon.
When we talk about tea here, we mean one of three kinds: green, black & oolong. All three come from the leaves of one plant flavored black is simply black tea that has been mixed with ingredients like dried flower petals or oils.
Teas away disease:
So far, because the research is exploratory, none of the half-dozen, world wide tea studies actually prove that tea prevents cancer or heart disease in humans. But they do suggest that regular tea drinking can’t hurt and might even do some good.
Some smaller studies hint that tea drinking may also slow or prevent stomach, pancreas, rectum, skin and lung cancers. It seems more and more that drinking tea is something like drinking a vegetable, and it sure beats drinking brewed spinach leaves.
Don’t waste time worrying over which three tea varieties might have the greatest health benefits. Although black, green and oolong contain different levels of flavonoids, the research so far suggests that any possible disease-fighting powers the teas might have are similar.
For most people, the only known risk from drinking tea is a risk that applies to any other hot beverage. If you frequently consume extremely hot liquids, you could burn your throat, a condition that may increase your chance of developing esophageal cancer. Avoid that, and your biggest risk could be missing out on one of the more than 3,000 tea varieties.
Savoring the experience
If you don’t already drink a cup or two a day, try a cup of a delicate black tea like Darjeeling.
Don’t make more tea than you can finish in one Sitting: tea always tastes best freshly brewed. As you learn to linger over your tea, you may want to buy a cup with a heat-retaining lid.
What ever kind you choose, make sure you steep the tea for at least three minutes. Most of the research has been done on tea brewed for that long. If, after the tea steeps for three to five minutes, you find the taste too strong, dilute the tea by pouring a little out and adding more hot water.
Try to drink your tea without milk. One study from Italy showed that tea consumed with milk lost some of its antioxidant vigor.
If you prefer cooler brews, try one of these tempting iced-tea variations chill the tea with ice cubes made from your favorite juices, like apple, grape, cranberry or orange.
Be sure to keep the iced tea covered. Tea left exposed to open air can lose some of its antioxidants. Drink or discard leftover tea within two days.
Whether you enjoy it first thing in the morning as a pick-me-up, or at the end of a brisk walk as a cool-me-down, tea-time may soon come to mean anytime.
It’s true. New research shows that regular consumption of tea has been linked to lower risk of both heart disease and cancer.
And these days, flavored teas come in an abundance of lip-smacking varieties like ginger-peach, passion fruit, apple-cinnamon, vanilla-almond and peppermint. You can drink it hot, iced and with sugar or lemon.
When we talk about tea here, we mean one of three kinds: green, black & oolong. All three come from the leaves of one plant flavored black is simply black tea that has been mixed with ingredients like dried flower petals or oils.
Teas away disease:
So far, because the research is exploratory, none of the half-dozen, world wide tea studies actually prove that tea prevents cancer or heart disease in humans. But they do suggest that regular tea drinking can’t hurt and might even do some good.
Some smaller studies hint that tea drinking may also slow or prevent stomach, pancreas, rectum, skin and lung cancers. It seems more and more that drinking tea is something like drinking a vegetable, and it sure beats drinking brewed spinach leaves.
Don’t waste time worrying over which three tea varieties might have the greatest health benefits. Although black, green and oolong contain different levels of flavonoids, the research so far suggests that any possible disease-fighting powers the teas might have are similar.
For most people, the only known risk from drinking tea is a risk that applies to any other hot beverage. If you frequently consume extremely hot liquids, you could burn your throat, a condition that may increase your chance of developing esophageal cancer. Avoid that, and your biggest risk could be missing out on one of the more than 3,000 tea varieties.
Savoring the experience
If you don’t already drink a cup or two a day, try a cup of a delicate black tea like Darjeeling.
Don’t make more tea than you can finish in one Sitting: tea always tastes best freshly brewed. As you learn to linger over your tea, you may want to buy a cup with a heat-retaining lid.
What ever kind you choose, make sure you steep the tea for at least three minutes. Most of the research has been done on tea brewed for that long. If, after the tea steeps for three to five minutes, you find the taste too strong, dilute the tea by pouring a little out and adding more hot water.
Try to drink your tea without milk. One study from Italy showed that tea consumed with milk lost some of its antioxidant vigor.
If you prefer cooler brews, try one of these tempting iced-tea variations chill the tea with ice cubes made from your favorite juices, like apple, grape, cranberry or orange.
Be sure to keep the iced tea covered. Tea left exposed to open air can lose some of its antioxidants. Drink or discard leftover tea within two days.
Whether you enjoy it first thing in the morning as a pick-me-up, or at the end of a brisk walk as a cool-me-down, tea-time may soon come to mean anytime.
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