Hot or iced? Tea For All Seasons.
If you can buy tea, you can buy happiness! Yea.. tea makes me happy. It has the same effect on a lot of people all over the world. Social gatherings are centered around tea; bridge games are played while sipping tea; even business partnerships are established during tea time.
Tea is a versatile beverage that can be sipped in the cold winter months or gulped in the summer heat. If you are a tea drinker, know that you are drinking medicine. Yes, all over the world, people of all cultures drink tea for healing.
HOMEGROWN TEA: Passionflower
At Your Healing Place, there is a magnificent garden filled with herbs, vegetables, grapes, and other berries. Most of those items are part of my family's seasonal diet. However, passionflower is grown and harvested in small batches to offer another healing strategy for a well rounded "healing toolbox." If you get your hands on the Limited Edition Tea tin or the loose tea sachet, you have truly given yourself the gift of healing found in tea. Not adding too much to an already lengthy blog post, I've provided an alternate link for additional information about the benefits of Passionflower tea.
Personal Tea Experience
In November 2014, my husband and I took a trip to China. One attraction dear to my heart was the Tea House in Beijing. Not only did I learn the importance of tea as medicine, but also tea etiquette. So now let's talk about the history, origin types, and benefits of the types of tea!
Origin
The origin of tea dates back to 2700 B.C. The era in which Shennong, the father of Chinese medicine and agriculture, lived. The mythical emperor Shennong was said to have used tea to learn its medical value. Wow! Can you believe tea existed that long ago?! The first book about buying and preparing tea was published in 59 B.C., by Wang Bao, Sichuan Province. This book was titled “A Contract with a Servant” and soon led to tea as a vital part of society’s diet and a best-selling trading commodity. In the early days of tea-drinking, only imperial court nobles and Buddhist monks drank it. I think it’s safe to say the tea was ‘a rich mans’ beverage. Theorists believed that Sancha (mountain tea) originally grew wild in remote areas of Japan’s mountains. The first tea grown in Japan is said to have been planted in Saga Prefecture, from China's seeds by Eisai. Tea ceremonies, culture, gatherings, and Tocha (tea competitions) began to emerge in Japan during the 15th and 16th centuries. Many tea ceremonial practices are still common today.
It Began In Japan
The tea trade is vast and also encompasses the development of distribution systems, tea merchants, intermediary traders, and tea wholesalers and the invention of various types of machinery. In 1979, ITO EN launched a product by adapting Chinese oolong tea to Japanese tastes.
Oolong tea was created to alleviate feelings of “dissatisfaction caused by having only green tea” in ordinary households. Oolong tea started to gain significant attention as a tea suitable to go with oily foods and as a tea consumed in large quantities. To keep up with the fast-paced modern lifestyle, ITO EN, developed a ready-to-drink tea, a canned oolong tea in 1981, followed by a canned green and black tea in 1985. Tea is now used in a myriad of ways, which are not limited to just beverages.
Interesting right? Well, enough about the history of tea. Allow me to introduce you to the various types of tea and its health benefits.
6 Types of TEA
Black Tea is allowed to wither, preceding a process called oxidation (sometimes incorrectly referred to as fermentation). Water evaporates out of the leaf, and the leaf absorbs more oxygen from the air. Its health benefits include:
Reduces risk of heart ailments
Effective for intestinal disorders
Provides relief from asthma
Prevents breast cancer
Helps cure digestive disorders
Reduces bad cholesterol levels
Dark Tea is from the Hunan and Sichuan provinces of China and is a flavorful aged probiotic tea that steeps up very smooth with a natural, slightly sweet note. Its health benefits include:
Reduced blood pressure
Weight loss
Fights diabetes
Oolong Tea has a caffeine content between that of green teas and black teas. Oolongs (pronounced wulongs) are often compared to fresh flowers or fresh fruit's taste and aroma. Its health benefits include:
Reduces obesity and stress
Protects against tooth decay
Prevents the development of cancerous cells
Relieves atopic dermatitis
Functions as an antioxidant
Controls diabetes
Improves mental health problems
Protects bone mineral density
Green Tea is allowed to wither only slightly after being picked. Then the oxidation process is stopped very quickly by firing (rapidly heating) the leaves. Its health benefits include:
Eliminates hangovers
Delays signs and symptoms of aging
Improves blood circulation
Tones muscles and skin
Reduces risks of cancer
Prevents thickening of blood
Reduces blood glucose level
Help lose weight
White Teas are the most delicate of all teas. They are appreciated for their subtlety, complexity, and natural sweetness. They are hand-processed using the youngest shoots of the tea plant, with no oxidation. Its health benefits include:
Helps in weight loss
Aids in managing diabetes
Beneficial in preventing cancer such as lung cancer
Helps to reduce the risk of premature aging
Aids in maintaining healthy and youthful skin
Effective in reducing the risk of dental caries or tooth decay/cavity
Reduces the risk of various cardiovascular disorders
Beneficial in protecting the skin against the effects of ultra-violet light
Rooibos Tea, often called red tea or red bush tea. It is also one of the best known herbal teas and possibly the best alternative to regular black or green tea. Rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, this is a wonderfully beneficial tea suitable both for adults and children. Its health benefits include:
Digestion
Weight loss
Infantile colic
Calming
Prevents infection
Defense against free radicals
Supports respiratory health
Clears the skin, acne, sunburn, insect bites
Insomnia
Liver and kidney support
Pancreatic support
By now, you're probably thinking about which tea is the healthiest for you.
The healthiest tea for you is the tea you like the most because you will drink it. Don’t approach tea as something you are drinking because it is “good for you.” I suggest you find teas you enjoy and drink them often. That way, you get all the health benefits without even thinking about it.
Dispelling Myths about Tea (Caffeine)
The tea (black, oolong, green, white, pu-erh, or dark) does not determine the caffeine content. Contrary to popular belief, green and white teas do not necessarily contain less caffeine than black tea.
Herbals (or tisanes) are drinks that are made from plants other than the Camellia Sinensis, such as chamomile, peppermint, and hibiscus. They are not actually tea, and most do not contain caffeine.
Even “decaffeinated” teas contain some caffeine. After undergoing the decaffeination process, teas may contain up to 1/2 of one percent of caffeine by weight.
Limited Edition Passionflower Tea
Now that you know the specific healing properties of tea, get some. Stock up on the tea that has the healing properties you need. Then drink often. Try our passion leaf tea while supplies last.
For best results, make pitchers of tea and drink daily. Watch your health miraculously change.
Until Next Post... be well😁
Dr. Stephanie