Tea Time; Healthy Teas For Anytime
I have recently discovered some great herbal teas. I just got tired of the same herbal teas I was drinking and with the realization that I really hate chamomile (which is in a lot of herbal teas) I started doing some research to find a tea that did not taste like most herbal tea. I really like teas like ceylon, oolong, white and green tea but I wanted a caffiene free alternative that tasted more like these kinds of teas.
I found a tea called Jiaogulan. It appears within ancient Chinese manuscripts as early as the 13th century. In the later half of the 20th century a study of sorts was done to try and discover why inhabitants of a certain mountainous region in China lived to be over a 100. The common denominator is that they all consumed this tea.
Jiaogulan tea contains anti-oxidants* It is also considered an adaptogen. Adaptogens help increase resistance to stress, trauma, anxiety and fatigue. They produce a nonspecific physiologic response in the body (huh, what does that mean?). That means that they do not work on a particular system or organ rather they have a normalizing influence on the entire body. For instance, if a person was feeling stressed and sort of keyed up or a bit hyper, so to speak, an adaptogen would help to normalize them and chill them out. On the other hand, if a person was feeling lethargic or tired an adaptogen would make them feel less tired and more alert. I think it is a great tasting tea.
It should be brewed at about 140-160 degrees. Unless you are a real tea enthusiast and use a thermometer to monitor the water I would suggest heating some water with a thermometer one time to about 150 degrees and then get a feel for how hot that is and how long it took to reach that temperature, for future reference. You can order the tea through www.AumTea.com they are loose leaves. So get your self a little glass teapot with a basket. I actually make a small pot in the morning and if I want to make some more in the afternoon I just reuse the same leaves.
Another really great herbal tea I found is called Tulsi Tea and you can order if from www.organicindia.com and look for what is called The Original Tulsi Tea without any other flavorings. Tulsi is also called Holy Basil. There are several varieties of Tulsi and this one has three of them. This tea tastes as good as "regular" tea and does not taste like an herbal tea in my opinion. Studies have shown that Tulsi helps to lower cholesterol and stabilize blood glucose levels. It also shows promise in treating problems associated with radiation poisoning and cataracts. Tulsi is also an adaptogen and is full of anti-oxidants. I did not find any special brewing directions so you can boil the heck out of your water and enjoy!
A word of caution, although these are herbal teas I found that they still stained my teeth. They did not stain near as bad as green tea or regular tea but I was surprised since they are herbal teas. However, I do drink them everyday.
*Anti-oxidants fight free radicals within the body. Free radicals are basically very unstable atoms that cause injury and damage to cells. Keeping it very simple; all atoms have particles that move around them called electrons. Free radicals are short one electron, therefore they are very unstable and will steal an electron from neighboring atoms (thieves!). This in turn sets up a chain reaction that can cause injury to cells. Anti-oxidants are really nice little guys because they have an extra electron that they give to these bad free radicals so they settle down and don't go around stealing electrons that don't belong to them!
