Tea & Life: Weight Management via the Leaf

No, this isn’t another post about how some substance in tea works to raise metabolism and helps you lose weight. It’s also not a post about how healthy tea is, or how drinking a certain number of cups will arrest cancer cells, slow the aging process, and detox the liver. I’m not a scientist, and while tea may or may not do all those things (depending on which reports you read), the manner in which it helps me manage my weight is much, much simpler than any of that.

The fact is, I like tea. I like the taste. I like the variety of flavors available. I like it straight – it’s very rare that I’ll put sweetener or milk in my tea. I find it far more palatable than a glass of plain water. Even flavored tea is very low-cal when compared to soda or juice.

That’s the secret. It’s just that simple. Because I enjoy tea so much, it’s easier for me to choose it as a beverage over soda (which is my second choice) or any other calorie-laden beverages. I do choose tea over water much of the time, but it’s okay, since it’s a healthy choice. A fresh pitcher of iced tea with dinner makes it easy to say no to anything else. It’s refreshing and hydrating after working in the yard or exercising.

Not only am I able to avoid sugary drinks, but I also drink more fluid overall. When I drink water, I drink less (and more slowly). I’ll drink more tea just for the flavor, and more quickly, keeping my body better hydrated.

Do you reach for tea rather than other beverages? Why or why not?

Gifts, Packaging and Travel Mugs

Greetings, fellow tea lovers. Long time no write...

One of my dogs was diagnosed with a fairly serious disease last month, which of course turned into a very costly and time consuming affair to get her stabilized and on the road to recovery. You can read all about it on her Dogster page (scroll down to "her" diary). What does this have to do with tea? Well, nothing, really - just a justification for the fact that I haven't even really been tasting tea much, even though I drink it daily (two travel mugs daily, in fact). There's been a lot of other things on my mind, frankly.

I did get tea for Christmas though - some of the same Harney & Son's Holiday blend that I was giving out, ironically enough. I also got a Republic of Tea "Spicy Chocolate Mint" which is excellent, and a round tin "tower" of "Gypsy" teas that included a Raspberry Earl Grey (a bit on the light side, but tasty), and green, white and herbal teas I haven't tried yet. I love the tin though, and it will be perfect for seed saving when it's empty.

Which brings me to some issues I've been thinking through with regards to my buying habits. I've been trying to avoid unnecessary plastic lately, partically to be more eco-friendly, and partially to avoid any potentially bad health effects from storing/preparing food in plastic containers. This means that I no longer am content to buy tea in plastic storage bags or containers, even if it happens to be better quality (the irony of that is, better quality tea really "deserves" better quality containers anyways, don't you think?). So I'm now limiting my tea purchases to companies that sell tea in tins, rather than plastic or non-recyclable foil packaging. I would prefer to pay a little more for the tin that can be reused and will eventually rust back into minerals and such than plastic which is here to stay forever (and rarely able to be recycled). Plus, I'm not risking the leaching of chemicals into my tea, and subsequently into my brew (as unlikely as that is, considering we don't generally steep tea in plastic bags).

As you might guess, this has severely limited my tea purchasing. Currently I have Adagio (thier tins have plastic lids, but it is hard plastic, and not really in contact with the tea much), Harney & Son's (always premium), and Republic of Tea (much maligned, but I've always enjoyed their flavored teas) on hand. If anyone out there has recommendations for other companies that sell their tea in tins, please do let me know!

Also, I'm looking for a good travel mug to replace the one I use to take tea back and forth to work with me. Anyone have a good "all stainless steel" or "mostly stainless" mug that they are just in love with? It doesn't have to be specifically "for tea" - I brew my tea at home before I leave, and just use a metal infuser I already have.

I do still have several teas at home just waiting for a review - perhaps I'll get a few done here in the next couple weeks.

Better!

Finally, I feel the fog lifting, and my taste buds seem to have regained thier sense of purpose. Hooray for wine, which works to cure an ill when even tea won't hurry it along.

This afternoon, a review of Dragonwater's fruity version of Russian Caravan.

Head Cold, No Taste

Yes, I caught a head cold from my hubby this week...I guess it was inevitable, really. So I don't really trust my taste buds at the moment, thus the lack of reviews.

I can tell you, however, that my favorite teas to reach for when fighting a cold are blended with herbs - namely rooibos, peppermint and chamomile - and a spices like cinnamon. I've been drinking a lot of Cassablanca Twist (Adagio) and Rooibos Chocolate Mint (Dragonwater) lately, as well as Rooibos Apple Cinnamon (Dragonwater) and Spicy Chai (Stash). Stuff to sooth the throat and open the airways...tea for medicinal purposes, if you will.

So the reviews will return just as soon as my sense of taste does...but I have some teaware coming this weekend that I'll post on in the meantime.

Wako Thin Grade Matcha from In Pursuit of Tea

Scent: sweet green, not at all like a Chinese green tea…hard to describe, but very fresh scent.
Brewed in: Ceramic matcha bowl
Steeped: No steeping, just whisking.

I know I’m not the only one who watched the movie “The Karate Kid” as a youngster and immediately wanted to try the Japanese Tea Ceremony featured in one of the scenes. It was lovely, mysterious, and so very different than anything I’d experienced to that point, but at that stage in my life, I wasn’t really in any position to go out and buy the necessary things to try it myself (and I’ve never seen matcha here, though one of the tea shops might carry it now).

So many years later, I finally decided it was time. I scraped my pennies together – this tea is very expensive due to the processing it goes through – and ordered a matcha Starter Kit from In Pursuit of Tea. It was about the best deal I could find where the bowl, whisk and tea were all included, and the price was still $56.00. I went ahead and ordered a screen to sift the matcha through as well to get the free shipping (the sifter was $6, shipping would have been about the same, so I broke even there). It showed up on my doorstep last night, and I was eager to try it. But I waited until this morning, since matcha has a high caffeine content, and I thought it might be a good drink to get the day started with (I fully admit to being a caffeine addict).

So before work this morning, I got out my new tools, and followed the directions carefully. I didn’t have time to sift the entire can at once, but I sifted 1/3 teaspoon for one bowl (the directions say 1 teaspoon, but I’ve read online that you should start with less, and work your way up, as it is quite strong…and I’m glad I didn’t start with more). You can see from the picture the difference in the tea on the wax paper (just sifted) and the tea still in the can, with lumps here and there. I probably should have re-measured after sifting, and I’ll sift the whole can before I drink it again.

You’re supposed to pour a little boiling water into the bowl, and soak the whisk (chasen) for a minute or so to soften up the bamboo. So I did that, then poured the water out and dried the bowl with a paper towel, as instructed. Next, you add the sifted powder to the bowl, along with 1/3 to ½ cup of hot water just under boiling. Then you whisk the mixture in a “W” pattern until the top is frothy. Then you drink it, right from the bowl.

Having completed those steps in short order, I raised the bowl, catching a somewhat bitter, very green scent wafting toward me. I knew then I’d made a mistake…as I’d read that matcha is strong, and somewhat bitter, but also sweet tasting at the same time. I sensed mostly bitterness, and when I took a sip, confirmed that it was indeed, very strong, and very bitter. I think my error was in not re-measuring after I sifted the powder…I think I used more tea than I should have.
Even so, there was definitely a strong, sweet aftertaste, a hint of what I think it will taste like when brewed with the correct amount of tea. I gulped the rest down, and rinsed the bowl and chasen before heading out the door for work. The aftertaste stuck with me all the way to work, until I “washed it down” with my morning cup here at work. It wasn’t a bad aftertaste, just much different than what I’m used to. While I was drinking the tea this morning, I remember thinking to myself that it wouldn’t take long to “acquire” a taste for this particular tea…because there is something about the bitter and sweet notes that blend together in a fascinating way. It’s very complex, and while I can’t say I enjoyed it, I found it most interesting (when I wasn’t wincing from the bitterness).

I’ll try it again tomorrow morning – I did feel more alert when I got to work this morning than I normally do, and not in a jittery sort of way, just more awake and ready to start working. So if I can master the proper brewing technique, and acquire the taste, it will be a very nice addition to my morning routine (healthy too – matcha is supposed to be the healthiest of all tea, since you are not just drinking what steeps out of the leaves, but the leaves themselves). This is the “thin” version, which is for everyday drinking…the actual tea ceremony version is referred to as “thick”, and I look forward to trying that as well someday – it’s prepared slightly differently.

All in all, I highly recommend trying it, at least once, because it is a very interesting experience. This starter matcha kit would make a great birthday or Christmas gift, I think, though you may have better luck than I did finding all the necessary accoutrements cheaper if you keep looking.

Health and the Tea Mind

I don’t often discuss the health benefits that come with drinking tea – mostly because although I started drinking tea to be healthier, it was also because I just like tea and I like my caffeine (hence my attraction to black tea), and it made a good alternative to the soda I lived on in high school and college. And while I am well aware of the benefits of drinking tea, I feel that the whole tea “experience” should be more of a main focus, simply because for most people, things that are “healthy” quickly lose their appeal, and focusing on the health benefits can make drinking tea feel more like an obligation than a pleasure. It’s just how many of us humans are “wired” – I think the average person has a tendency to rebel against what’s good for us if we focus on that aspect.

Or maybe it’s just me.

So here’s the story of how I fell in love with Tea. It all started with my paternal grandmother, who was absent for all but a few months of my childhood. She lived far away in a state called Texas, supposedly remaining there due to the cancer that was in remission. When she was 50 years old, she found a lump on the side of her neck. It turned out to be non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – cancer in the lymph nodes on her neck. I’m not sure what treatments they used, but it was never truly cured, but warmer weather seemed to keep it in remission. So she remained in Texas, a ghostly member of the family who called on birthdays and sent checks, but was rarely seen by anyone. She moved up here a few years ago to live with my parents, and then eventually moved into the nursing home she had been a director at years ago. She died this past fall of an infection that couldn’t be healed.

My dad had always told me that when he turned 30, his metabolism slowed down, which caused a great amount of weight gain that he has trouble with even now. His mother was obese, and it may have contributed to the cancer. My maternal grandmother is also overweight, and she’s had colon cancer. I grew up working in a fitness center, so health has always been important to me, and when I graduated from college and settled into a slower-paced life in my mid-20’s, I decided that I would give up my beloved daily sodas in hopes of beating my metabolism.

I still wanted caffeine though – and thus marked my entrance into the world of black tea. I found that I enjoyed it very much, hot tea in the mornings and throughout a cold, snowy day, and iced tea in the summer. I was proud to be taking better care of myself, and working out regularly to maintain my weight while enjoying the benefits of tea. Even black tea is loaded with healthy nutrients that can affect weight, dental health, and possibly ward off cancer, from everything I’ve read.

Just around his 50th birthday, my dad discovered a lump on his own neck. He went in right away to have it checked out, and the diagnosis was as expected: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He had to go through radiation treatments to kill it, which ruined not only his teeth (bad teeth run in the family as well), but his health, stamina, and took a toll on his immune system. Luckily he made a full recovery, and has been cancer-free for a few years now. All the same, it’s scary knowing that a particular cancer runs in the family, presents the same way, and could be imbedded in my genes this very minute, just waiting for the right time to strike. I’ve inherited many of the other “family traits”, so it’s not a stretch to think that I might be next in line for this cancer.

This made me all the more interested in how tea can potentially help guard against cancers. Being childfree (which means I don’t want children, ever), puts me at a higher risk for certain female cancers as well, which naturally worries me, since ovarian cancer is the “silent killer”. The more I read about the potential of tea to fight cancers in the body, the more I found justification for the pleasure I took in drinking tea, and the more tea I drank. Now tea is my “default” drink, along with a glass of wine here and there (also good for health).

I drink at least two 12oz. cups of black tea per day (which works out to 4 “health-sized” servings – the recommendation of those “in the know” for tea, from what I’ve read). On the weekend, I tend to drink more, and I try to drink either water or tea at night after work. Puerh tea has long been touted in China for it’s amazing medicinal qualities, and I’ve recently discovered puerh tea and occasionally enjoy a session of that as well. For me, puerh is all about the taste and ritual of brewing, but it’s nice to know that it’s healthy as well. I like white tea, and have recently discovered herbal rooibos tisanes that are supposedly healthy as well (I drink them because I like them, and the health benefits are “extra”).

And finally, there is the effect of the Tea Mind. Even at work, when it’s busy and I’m not often pleased with being there, a good cup of tea has the power to calm, sooth, and make life more bearable, regardless of any other health benefits. At home, whether I’m whipping up a quick pot in my electric tea maker or brewing a nice cup in a pretty pot to enjoy, tea is always a welcome companion in my day, as it settles my mind and either warms or cools me, depending on the season.

The simple fact is, for me, Tea Mind is all about enjoying the experience, relaxing the mind, and letting go of the stress, even if it’s just for a few minutes. I will be very happy if someday it turns out that my tea-drinking habit helps keep me healthy physically, but I would drink it even if it never lived up to those claims. It helps keep me mentally healthy, and that is probably as big a part of staying physically healthy as anything else in this world.