Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Green Tea Is An Antioxidant Power House

For centuries in China, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, green tea has been a popular drink. In the past few years and has become popular in the United States and continues to grow around the world. Part of this ever growing popularity is because of the scientific data supporting the health benefits of this herb.

Many Americans ask the question, what makes this herb better than black tea; they both come from the same plant? The leaves are harvested fresh and steamed. Black tea is harvested in the same way but the leaves are left to age and oxidize, this oxidation creates chemical compounds that are good for cholesterol among other health benefits, but does not exhibit the cancer fighting benefits of the green variety.

Green tea unlike black tea is high in polyphenols, which have powerful cancer fighting antioxidant properties. These beneficial compounds will vary from season to season along with the climate the plant is located in so not all green tea supplements are the same. Also, harvesting processes will determine how much healing polyphenols are left in the herb at time of encapsulation. Many studies have come out on the benefits of this herb and a few on black teas, with all this research, scientists still believe this herb is better than black tea as an antioxidant and cancer prevention herb.

With all the research pointing to the positive benefits of this herb, more than 4 times the amount of black tea is consumed in the United States and around the world as apposed to green variety. With in the next few years this herb is expected to grow in popularity by leaps and bounds. Many gourmet coffee shops have added green tea to their menu, along with grocery stores. At gas stations, bottled green tea can be purchased as well in the United States.

Ninety percent of all the research done on green tea has been done on its ability to fight cancer. Green tea has a greater Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) then both vitamin C and vitamin E, this means green tea can fight free radical damage better than either vitamin. This herb not only has a great ORAC value, it also helps improve the body's natural antioxidant activity as well. Studies have shown that this herb inhibits the creation of nitrosamines and carcinogens that cause cancer in the body, as well as helps detoxify other cancer causing agents. This herb has shown to be effective against breast, colon, lung, pancreas, stomach, and small intestine cancers.

Another recent study suggested that this herb can protect the skin from the damaging effects of the sun. Green tea, when ingested or rubbed on the skin externally in both tea or extract form, showed skin protection from the sun. This herb is good for sensitive skin and can help sooth irritations offering relief to those individuals with sensitive skin. Many cosmetic companies are adding green tea as their main ingredient to help reduce fine lines. This herb can safely be used with facial steaming and herbal baths to help sooth the skin.

Source : articlesbase

Buy Green Tea or Buy Oolong Tea Only at Exclusive Stores

Tea is a very popular beverage next to water. This is not just any beverage that satisfies your tastes after every meal. It is a healthy kind of beverage, which has many health benefits. Depending on the kind of tea, its benefits range from reduction of carbohydrates or cholesterol intake or serves as an anti-oxidant. Most teas are sold in the market for cheap prices while other exotic teas such as green tea and Oolong tea are sold at considerable, more premium prices than their counterpart, the more popular teas like black tea and tea bags.

Generally, green teas, just like any other teas, are bitter in taste. Green tea originally came from China. While black tea was more popular in the West and in the UK, green tea is now gaining popularity in these countries as well. It is different from black tea as it is made purely from Camellia Sinensis and has gone through a minimal oxidizing process. Over a long period of time from its emerging popularity, green tea has been known to have many health benefits. It has been a subject of much clinical and medical research. So far, green tea drinkers are suspected to have a lower risk of heart disease and any type of cancer than non drinkers.
Another popular premium tea is Oolong tea. The oxidation of Oolong tea is between that of black tea and green tea. Basically, the taste of Oolong tea is more like the green tea but does not carry the grassy taste of real green tea. Nevertheless, it lacks the strong aroma of black teas. The appearance of Oolong tea is exquisitely made. Some come in rolled leaves while others look like curly leaves.

Both green tea and Oolong tea appear to be more beneficial for the body than coffee. Both serve as anti-oxidants and may help promote weight loss. There are various ways that you can buy these premium Chinese teas. You can buy green tea and Oolong tea through online and offline stores. Usually you can buy Oolong tea and green teas in Chinese stores or exclusive stores for teas. However, if you don’t have much time to go to specialized stores, you can use the Internet to search for these teas.

Source : articlesbase

Bulk Organic Green Tea

Gru Tea’s dedication to provide the finest teas can be found in the highest-quality ingredients it sources through its sister company Yogi Botanicals and the wisdom it applies when combining herbs and spices at processing and blending sites in Germany and India, while also acting socially responsible by protecting the earth’s natural resources. All Gru teas contain naturally organic ingredients in variable proportion. Our worldwide team of growers, processors, packers, blenders and tasters are committed to deliver the product and service for our clients.
We are thankful to all who have contributed in this journey from growers to processors and to fellow tea drinkers for their aspiring contribution and upliftment of our experience as their choice.

Gru Tea uses 100 percent recycled and recyclable paper in its packaging, as well as vegetable-based inks and dyes. Tea bags are 100 percent oxygen bleached and use pure cotton strings and staples made of inert metal.

CTC and orthodox teas are sourced from our partner tea estates in Darjeeling and Assam. Teas are sold in bulk form packed in paper sacks, jute bags or tea chests. We have a taste for tea. And nothing tastes better than teas that are sustainably farmed and socially beneficial.
All tea comes from the "Camellia sinensis," an evergreen shrub that may grow up to 60 feet in the wild. When cultivated for harvest, the tea bushes are kept to a height of about three feet. There are over 3000 varieties of tea, each with its own specific characteristics. Tea is harvested after each flush - the sprouting of the top two leaves and the bud. The top two leaves and the bud are hand plucked and then processed into any of the four types of tea: Black, Green, Oolong, and White. Black tea is withered, fully oxidized and dried. Black tea yields a hearty, amber-colored brew. Some of the popular black teas include English Breakfast and Darjeeling.
Green tea skips the oxidizing step. It is simply withered and then dried. It has a more delicate taste and is pale green / golden in color. Oolong tea is popular in China. It is withered, partially oxidized, and dried. Oolong is a cross between black and green tea in color and taste.

Source : articlesbase

Green Tea: An Antioxidant Power House

For centuries in China, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, green tea has been a popular drink. In the past few years green tea has become popular in the United States and continues to grow around the world. Part of this ever growing popularity is because of the scientific data supporting the health benefits of green tea.

Many Americans ask the question, what makes green tea better than black tea; they both come from the same plant? Green tea leaves are harvested fresh and steamed. Black tea is harvested in the same way but the leaves are left to age and oxidize, this oxidation creates chemical compounds that are good for cholesterol among other health benefits, but does not exhibit the cancer fighting benefits of green tea.

Green tea unlike black tea is high in polyphenols, which have powerful cancer fighting antioxidant properties. These beneficial compounds will vary from season to season along with the climate the plant is located in so not all green tea supplements are the same. Also, harvesting processes will determine how much healing polyphenols are left in the herb at time of encapsulation. Many studies have come out on the benefits of green tea and a few on black teas, with all this research, scientists still believe green tea is better than black tea as an antioxidant and cancer prevention herb.

With all the research pointing to the positive benefits of green tea, more than 4 times the amount of black tea is consumed in the United States and around the world as apposed to green tea. With in the next few years green tea is expected to grow in popularity by leaps and bounds. Many gourmet coffee shops have added green tea to their menu, along with grocery stores. At gas stations, bottled green tea can be purchased as well in the United States.

Ninety percent of all the research done on green tea has been done on its ability to fight cancer. Green tea has a greater Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) then both vitamin C and vitamin E, this means green tea can fight free radical damage better than either vitamin. Green tea not only has a great ORAC value, it also helps improve the body's natural antioxidant activity as well. Studies have shown that green tea inhibits the creation of nitrosamines and carcinogens that cause cancer in the body, as well as helps detoxify other cancer causing agents. Green tea has shown to be effective against breast, colon, lung, pancreas, stomach, and small intestine cancers.

Source : articlesbase

Tea Types, Brewing Instructions, and Other Info

GREEN- Green tea is made from the unfermented leaves of the camellia sinesis plant. Green tea leaves are withered, fried, rolled, and dried to produce their unique taste. Green tea tastes similar to white tea (sun-sweetened leaves) but a bit more robust. Green tea has a moderate amount of caffeine and anti-oxidants. Green tea is delicious hot or cold. To brew: Bring water to 160 degrees F and steep for 1-3 minutes.

BLACK – Black tea is made from the fully fermented tea leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. They produce a strong-flavored dark tea. Black tea is delicious hot or cold, plain or with cream and sugar. Black tea has the highest caffeine content of the teas. Black tea also has some anti-oxidants. To brew: Bring water to a boil and steep for 3-5 minutes.

WHITE- White tea is made from the unfermented leaves of the camellia sinesis plant. White tea has a very delicate flavor, similar to sun-sweetened leaves. White tea has the smallest amount of caffeine and the highest amount of anti-oxidants. White tea is delicious hot or cold. To brew: bring water to 180 degrees F and steep for 4-8 minutes.

ROOIBOS- Naturally CAFFEINE-FREE, this leaf is grown in South Africa. Recent years have shown that roobios is a popular decaffeinated alternative to green, white and black tea. It is full of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. Rooibos has a red leaf that produces a sweet red infusion. Rooibos is delicious hot or cold, plain or with milk and sugar. To brew: bring water to a boil and steep the for 7-10 minutes or to taste.

YERBA MATE- Yerba mate comes to us from Brazil. The flavor of brewed yerba mate is strongly vegetal, herbal, and grassy, reminiscent of some varieties of green tea. It has a slightly less potent stimulant than coffee, and is much gentler on the stomach. Yerba mate can be reinfused and does not grow bitter with over- steeping. To brew: Bring water to 150 degrees F and steep to taste.

Source : articlesbase

Green Tea - Expensive Scam or Elixir of Longer Life

Have you ever wondered why green tea costs about $2 for a packet of 25 tea bags, whereas with good old common or garden black tea, you can get about 200 bags for under $3!

Seeing as how most tea originates from the same tea plant (Camellia sinensis), is there a good reason for this, or is it just some scam dreamt up by a marketing genius in a back-room somewhere (wearing a big fat grin!).

But Green Tea is supposed to have such a wide and powerful range of health-inducing properties, and in fact is reputed to even act as a remedy for cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol and many other harmful ailments. So, how is it the black variety of tea seems to have none of these properties, and even has high caffeine content, even though the tea all stems (sic) from the same plant?

Now having been to Sri Lanka, and tasted tea almost straight from the plant at a tea plantation, I am aware that the flavour and health content of tea is directly related to the processing that takes place before it gets to your cup.

Well, the answer is in the method used to produce the tea. Black tea is fermented first before being processed, whereas Green Tea is not. It is picked and then dried, a process that is a lot shorter, that gives green tea a lighter flavour than its black counterpart. More importantly, many of the beneficial chemicals tend to remain intact, which gives green tea its amazing healthy actions.

Now, green tea is usually drank by itself, without milk or sugar, and to the uninitiated, the taste is nothing like black tea. I find that green tea on its own has a pleasant, but 'burnt' taste, and has to be acquired. Once again, if you have been looking for healthy replacements for ordinary tea or coffee, you may have sampled plain hot water or hot water with a slice of lemon in it as a 'wake up' brew. Green tea, after the first few mouthfuls the first time you try it, has a much stronger and quite pleasant taste.
With a speciality drink like green tea, the method of brewing to extract the best, and most consistent taste, needs to be a bit better controlled than with your common or garden black tea bag. You should boil the kettle, wait for a few minutes before pouring the water on the teabag (one per china cup), then let it diffuse for another three minutes.

Source : articlesbase

Protect Your Teeth - Drink Green Tea

Dental health is important to all of us. We buy special toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss and rinsing agents to help ensure that our smile is white, our teeth are cavity free and our breath is fresh. But, did you know that drinking tea may be one of the best (and simplest) things you can do to protect your teeth?

Well, it's true. Tea has been shown to offer protection to our teeth. Tea is a natural source of fluoride, which is known to protect against tooth decay. This is great news for children, who need significant amounts of fluoride in order for tooth enamel to harden properly. When teeth harden properly in our youth, it protects us from cavities throughout our lives.
However, even for adults, whose teeth are fully formed, tea's fluoride is a great way to protect your teeth. The fluoride found in tea has been shown to inhibit the growth of glucosyltransferase. This substance helps the plaque that naturally forms to adhere to our teeth.

Dentists in the UK have also reported that black tea disables certain forms of bacteria that work with sugars to form clumpy aggregates that stick to teeth. These dentists believe that drinking black tea reduces the total mass of dental plaque.

In addition, one study has suggested that green tea may inhibit the enzyme that causes plaque to form in the first place. Plaque is formed when an enzyme in your mouth mixes with sugar in the food you eat.
This study, reported by the UK Tea Council, looked at a sweet drink offered by a gourmet coffee house. This drink included sugar and whipped cream, but also included green tea. When the teeth of those who consumed this beverage were evaluated and compared to those who consumed heavily sweetened drinks that did not include green tea, the results were significant.

Even when the participants consumed the same amount of sugar, those whose drinks contained green tea did not have the same amount of plaque formation as those whose drinks were made with something other than green tea, leading researchers to conclude that green tea has a cleansing effect on the teeth.

Source : articlesbase