Tea & Your Health -- Drink Up!

[CapeCodJay]

I love tea!

I just happen to be enjoying a great cup of BOP Ceylon tea and thought I would share this.


A pot of tea a day keeps the doctor away
Bloomberg News
Published: 1:35 am

Tea may improve the ability to concentrate because of a substance found almost exclusively in several types of the beverage, according to research presented at a conference highlighting ties between tea and good health.

Theanine, an amino acid present in black, green and oolong teas, actively alters the attention networks of the brain to improve both calmness and alertness, according to John Foxe, a neuroscience professor at City College of the City University of New York.

"The only way you or I are going to get ahold of theanine is through a good cup of tea," Foxe said on Tuesday at the conference at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington. His research was sponsored by Unilever, which includes Lipton Tea among its more than 400 brands.


Claims of health benefits have helped tea sales in the U.S. surge, to $6.5 billion last year from $1.84 billion in 1990, according to the Tea Association of the U.S. Beyond helping alertness, tea can also ease the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and reduce cholesterol, scientists said.

Foxe said that in human trials, theanine has been shown to affect the brain's alpha waves within 20 minutes, and that the calming effects and state of heightened alertness can last three to four hours.

The doses given to test subjects were about 10 times what a person would get in a normal cup of tea, said Foxe. He now plans to lower the amount of theanine administered to see its effects at lower levels.

Improved alertness is one of several benefits tea companies and scientists are touting.

The top consumers of tea are India and China, which together drink about 40 per cent of world consumption, according to the Tea Industry Forum in Kingston, Australia.

Researchers have also linked tea to better heart health and immune function and reduced risk of some forms of cancer.

Sylvia Mandel, a scientist at the Eve Topf Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Israel, said her research suggests the equivalent of two to four cups of green tea a day may keep brain cells from dying in animals induced with Parkinson's disease. The next step is to see if the results can be replicated in humans, said Mandel.

The conference was sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American College of Nutrition and the New York-based Tea Association, which includes Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. and Tazo Tea, a unit of Starbucks Corp.

[SilkySmooth]

Oolong Oriental Beauty is one of my favorite teas. No sweetner required.



==Tom

[analog_kid]

Tea is pretty amazing stuff, that hardly breaks the surface of the myriad of health benefits associated with drinking tea, from increased metabolism to supporting immune function and everything in between. The only down side is that to really get the full benefit, you need to drink about 8 cups per day.

[Flaxorca]

Tea is pretty amazing stuff, that hardly breaks the surface of the myriad of health benefits associated with drinking tea, from increased metabolism to supporting immune function and everything in between. The only down side is that to really get the full benefit, you need to drink about 8 cups per day.

8 cups per day and I'd have to move my office to the bathroom....

[Stauff]

Tea is pretty amazing stuff, that hardly breaks the surface of the myriad of health benefits associated with drinking tea, from increased metabolism to supporting immune function and everything in between. The only down side is that to really get the full benefit, you need to drink about 8 cups per day.

No problem, really.

[Newfie]

For some reason, I like tea in the winter and as an accompaniment to a bowl. Summertime, I just can't take to it.

[ouch]

Tea rocks.

I hardly ever miss a day. I like them all, but I'm pretty much 98+% oolong.

[Howard Newell]

Keemum for me, though I think the most I can manage is about two cups per day. I'll only drink more if I've got a cold.

[ouch]

If I can't get three delicious infusions from a tea, I won't buy it.

[desmoface]

I just got my order from upton teas, today:

TB10 - 125g packet: Bond Street English Breakfast Blend

TE15S - 12g sample: Earl Grey

TE11S - 15g sample: Extra Bergamot English Earl Grey

TB20S - 15g sample: River Shannon Breakfast Blend

I loves me bloody tea.

Steve

[Two Rivers Man]

Ah, tea! I love tea. My favourites are Special Teas' Fine Irish Breakfast, English High Grown, and Pu Ehr Tuo Cha. I try to keep extra of the Irish Breakfast around since they sometimes run out, but in such cases their East Friesan Blend works quite nicely, good and strong. I abandoned coffee years ago after discovering fine teas, and refuse to buy mass-market tea bags--once you have had the good stuff, supermarket tea just won't do!

~James

[CapeCodJay]

Steve you will love that Extra Berg. Earl Grey!

[desmoface]

Hey Jay, yeah, I can't wait to try it..

Steve

[analog_kid]

Tea is pretty amazing stuff, that hardly breaks the surface of the myriad of health benefits associated with drinking tea, from increased metabolism to supporting immune function and everything in between. The only down side is that to really get the full benefit, you need to drink about 8 cups per day.

No problem, really.

Not at all. When the topic comes up on a lot of fitness sites I visit, telling people they need to drink more than a single cup to get those EGCG to ramp up your metabolism, well, it's like telling them they have to have a root canal.

[_JP_]

Keep in mind that some health benefits associated with tea in the past have been proven false, or have yet to be proven.

[ouch]

Tea may be the only thing I consume that has no deleterious effects whatsoever.

[TimmyBoston]

I'm also a tea lover, enjoying all types. My favorite tea shop is www.specialteas.com, I've found it to be good mix of quality and reasonable price.

[JokerJon]

I do remember reading that some studies also showed that adding milk diminishes most of the positive effects of tea to the heart, which a shame.

[CapeCodJay]

I do remember reading that some studies also showed that adding milk diminishes most of the positive effects of tea to the heart, which a shame.

No milk for me! Natrual just as god intended!

However my SWMBO adds milk - I just shake my head lol

[sullivanpm]

Barry's Gold and Classic Blend in my house.
6cup pot in the morning and the wife and I split a 12 cup pot in the afternoon.
BTW any one know where I can get a cozy for a 12 cup pot?