Health Benefits

Some health benefit information on the tea plant


Green tea is known to provide 10-40mg of polyphenols and has antioxidant activity greater than a serving of spinach, broccoli, carrots, or strawberries.

Studies show that green tea contains antioxidants, polyphenols, theanine, as well as a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. Green tea is definitely good for your body.

Enhances Health

Tea is known for its incredible power to prolong life. In recent research into green tea, results show its power in preventing disease as well.

Prevents Cancer

The death rate from cancer is known to be significantly lower for both women & men in Japan. Why is this you may ask? As much as 5-6 cups daily are consumed in areas that produce green tea, making it the main beverage to drink. This suggests that the main ingredients of green tea (tannin, catechin); in sufficient amounts lower the standard mortality rates for stomach cancer.

Restricts Blood Cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol, one is "bad" cholesterol (LDL), and heavy accumulation of these in tissues can lead to atherosclerosis. The other is good cholesterol (HDL) that prevents accumulation of excessive "bad" cholesterol. It has been proven and demonstrated that green tea catechin restricts the excessive buildup of cholesterol.

Controls High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a serious burden on the vascular system and is known to cause heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. Green tea is known for lowering blood pressure.

Lowers Blood Sugar

Green teas given to diabetes patients cause a decrease in the blood glucose levels. Green Tea has the capability of lowering blood sugar. The sugars and carbohydrates in our food are digested mainly in the duodenum, where it is converted to glucose and then absorbed into the blood stream.

The agent that regulates the intake of blood sugar into tissues is insulin. Diabetes is characterized by lack of insulin or not the body not using insulin properly, which does not allow proper absorption of glucose into tissues and leads to a high blood sugar level that must eventually be excreted into urine. If this high concentration of blood sugar continues for a long period, it will affect the vascular system and cause serious diseases including arteriosclerosis and retinal hemorrhages.

Suppresses Aging

Oxygen plays a key role in metabolism, but can also be an unhealthful agent. As a free radical, oxygen in the body can corrode cell membranes, which will damage DNA and the fats. This then leads to diseases such as cancer, cardio-vascular disease and diabetes. Lipid peroxide created by fats combined with oxygen tends to build up in the body and create aging.

Consumption of antioxidants such as vitamins E and C promises longer life, and we already know that green teas are rich in those two vitamins.

Refreshes the Body

Green tea caffeine taken in proper quantity stimulates every organ in the body and clears your mind. The small amount of caffeine (about 9 mgs of caffeine) present in a normal serving of green tea can stimulate the skeletal muscles and smooth the progress of muscular contraction.

Deters Food Poisoning

It has long been known that green tea has the ability to kill bacteria and is known to deter food poisoning. Treating diarrhea with consumption of strong green tea. Green tea is a powerful sterilizing instrument for all sorts of bacteria that cause food poisoning.

Prevents and Treats Skin Disease

Soaking in green tea has been successful as a treatment for athlete's foot. Bedsores and skin disease can be prevented or healed by using a green tea bath.

Stops Cavities

Green tea contains natural fluorine and is thought to aid in the reduction of cavities in schoolchildren. It has been known for some time that small amounts of fluorine can strengthen teeth and help prevent cavities.

Fights Viruses

Green tea catechin and theaflavin, which are both present in black tea, have a strong effect on the flu virus. It is also thought that the anti viral capability of green tea catechin may have some beneficial effect on the AIDS virus.
Additional Information

· Green Tea drinkers appear to enjoy better health.
· Catechin is 100 times more potent than vitamin C and 25 times more potent than vitamin E.
· Green Tea drinkers have half the risk of fatal heart attacks. Compounds in the tea called flavonoids stop blood platelets from forming clots, much like aspirin does.

The World of Loose Leaf Tea, just begun...

There are many different kind of organic teas and I am just going to name a few, well maybe a little more than a few.
Loose Leaf Green Teas:
Jasmine Green Tea- Chinese green tea, delicate jasmine, intoxicating
Matcha Green Tea- Japanese powdered green tea, grassy, nutty, green
Sencha Green Tea- Japanese loose leaf tea, nutty, smooth ( only steep this one 1 minute)
Gen Mai Cha Green Tea- Japanese green tea with Roasted Rice, toasty and yummy
Hojicha Green Tea- Japanese Roasted loose leaf tea, nutty, roasty
Dragonwell Green Tea- Chinese green tea, light, nutty with very smooth flavour
Sour Cherry Green Tea- Japanese green tea infused with natural cherry essence, very smooth Sakura cherry (only steep this one 30 secs to 1 minute) SERIOUSLY
Gunpowder Green Tea- Chinese green tea hand tied and rolled, smoky, full bodied
Loose Leaf Semi Green Teas:
Pu-erh Tea- Chinese semi green tea, earthy, woody, aged is better
Oolong Tea- toasty or very delicate, the higher up its grown the better
Loose Leaf Black Teas:
Ceylon Black Tea- smooth, medium bodied, somewhat sweet and floral

Darjeeling Black Tea- Indian, light to medium bodied, great on its own, no milk

Earl Gray Black Tea- bergamot is kind of perfumy, you either love or hate this one
Black Chai Tea- Indian,spicy, full bodied, great with warmed milk, make it strong
Lapsang Souchong Black Tea- Chinese loose leaf tea, pine smoked
Yunnan Black Tea- loose leaf tea, earthy, full bodied tea

Healthy Drinking

Hello again

Did you know that white tea has 3-5 times more antioxidants than green tea does. It is a little more expensive but definately worth it! It sells for appr. $30 for about 40 cups of tea if you can find it at a good tea shop.
Rooibos, red bush tea from Africa, is also a very healthy herbal tea that has about 10 times the antioxidants as green tea. The flavour is a little different, it has a full flavour similar to black tea but it quite unique in that it is quite nice with other teas, herbs or flower petals added to it. I like to mix mine with a chai blend that is herbal as well.

Tea Recipes from Beyond....

A really great recipe is using a nice strong peppermint tea and adding hot chocolate mix to it, the powder stuff is pretty good, milk or rich chocolate or even dark if you like. To go to the extreme add a dollop of whip cream on top, your family and friends will just love it.

Using loose peppermint steep 2 tbsp in 4 cups water and then add the chocolate powder approximately 2-3 heaping tbsps.
* If you like it creamy warm 1 cup milk and add to the tea chocolate mixture stirring or even whisking to get it kind of frothy, mmmmmm my favourite!

So loose tea is such an interesting thing, I was thinking about it today and I was comparing loose tea to coffee and how convenient it is for people to make it. The norm for drinking tea is typically a tea bag because it is easy, just throw it in the pot. But to get a really good cup of coffee you need to have nicely ground beans (not prepackaged into a filter) and you need to put it into the coffee maker or the bodum, which is quite messy.

So why my friends is it so hard to use the same method for tea! It is all about allowing yourself to see the light and invite loose leaf tea into your life.

I feel that it is such a great alternative for anyone looking for something other than a sugar fix, caffeine kick, and not have to substitute flavour or the same feelings for that matter.

So many teas can give you a lift without that nasty caffeine stuff getting in the way of you feeling good. And they are all very good for you, as long as its LOOSE TEA .

I am sorry but a teabag just won't do anything for you because it is mostly crushed leaves and the lower grade leaves from the bottom of the tea plant and a lot more of them (thats why such a caffeine kick with a nice cup of orange pekoe) not to say loose leaf black tea doesn' t have caffeine it is just a lot less. I have been taught it has from 50 -110 mg in one cup of tea.

Well that is enough of a lecture for me tonight. I am getting more excited to talk more about this subject. I do get to learn a lot of things throughout my day and I would love to share them with you.


see you soon

Welcome to the world of tea

I am excited to be able to talk about Tea, I have learned a lot about it in the last few years and I would love to share it with people. There is a whole world of tea that I know only a portion about but hopefully with this I will be able to learn as well as to share with others.

From what I know about tea there are more varieties in China than France has wine and cheese combined. Wow that is a lot of tea and what makes it so unique? Well from what I know it is all about the flavours and nuances that one can pick out of a really good cup of tea. I have tasted some oolong teas that have just the most amazing delicate flavour, it feels as though if you closed your eyes you would be standing near a water fall feeling the mist on your face and drinking it in.

The blending of tea is also very intricate and takes some hard work and teaching. Sure anyone can throw some herbs and petals together but to get that special one of a kind flavour that literally makes your body go "aahhhh"! It is not everyday you can find something that tastes really good and is really good for you too!

I have found that the many different things you can do with tea other than drinking it just as it is, is a great way to add tea to your life that enhances it and can be healthy for the body as well.

I will post some recipes and other ideas for gifts using tea soon.