My wife clipped a list of ten things a man should do to keep his health a while ago and I was happy to see that eight of them were already habits. One of the two suggestions that weren't already part of my life was a recommendation to drink tea each afternoon. So I decided to switch my afternoon espresso to tea.
I started with a mug of Earl Gray taken with a little milk and found that it was giving me a terrific caffeine buzz. And I'm a guy that can drink a double espresso immediately before taking a nap. Moreover, Earl Gray is a black tea, which doesn't claim the same health benefits as green. That called for a little more experimentation, and I settled on the Ginger Peach variety of something called Daily Green Tea from The Republic of Tea.
The background to this is that for years researchers were puzzled by the fact that the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans despite a fattier diet. The answer was found in their red wine consumption. Red wine contains a compound that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet and green tea is rich in the same compounds, called catechin polyphenols. Powerful anti-oxidants, they appear to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and kill them without harming healthy tissue. They also seem to be effective at lowering cholesterol levels and inhibiting the formation of abnormal blood clots which are a leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.
In 2006, researchers at Yale published a review article that looked at more than 100 studies on the health benefits of green tea. They pointed to what they called an "Asian paradox," which refers to lower rates of heart disease and cancer in Asia despite high rates of smoking and theorized that the 1.2 liters of green tea that is consumed by many Asians each day have an effect similar to the consumption of red wine by the French.
So green tea in the afternoon and red wine in the evening make sense to me. Next we need a study showing the health benefits of champagne for breakfast.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Lifestyle: Tea in the Afternoon
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13 comments:
Hey Will,
would you let us know the 9 missing points your wife pointed out??
I definitely agree on the green tea thing. In Chinese clubs it's quite common to mix vodka with green tea, for example. Makes it easier to get up in the morning.
I thought someone might ask but I don't have the list any longer.
Will,
the ginger peach tea is wonderful. I usually drink black teas (no milk, no sugar, to the surprise of my family, who, being of Indian descent, takes both with their tea, plus ginger and some spices), but when I don't want Irish, English, or Earl Grey, I have the same tea you pictured.
I probably drink a gallon of the stuff, every day. I prefer black teas such as Earl Grey, but I'm also partial to green tea with mint. Tazo tea at Starbucks is quite good. Always with non-fat milk. It's funny, but I swear I saw this same post a couple of days ago...!?
Ah Laguna, what timing.
I clicked on the wrong button while working on a draft of the post and it was visible for perhaps two minutes a couple of days ago.
Hello Will,
I have followed all health recommendations and the doctor says I am in good shape.
However my blood pressure went up last year and I substituted drinking only tea (coconut pouchong)instead of the 3-4 double espresso's I used to drink every day.
My BP is now normal and I attribute that to tea.
Regards
Hello WIll,
Like LBT, I'm partial to a mixture of green tea and mint tea. Very refreshing.
And please let us know ASAP if you find an article claiming that a champagne breakfast is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. We need all the ammunition we can get.
Will,
I am drinking green tea with jasmine as I write this.
Thanks for the post.
Does a tall glass of sweet tea count?
Some of the best teas I've tasted come from:
http://www.teaforte.com/our-teas/green-and-white-teas/
I'll be on the outlook for that champagne for breakfast study.
Susan
I think it might be fitting to mention the Red African Bush tea called Rooibos....Green Rooibos is also quite pleasant too.
Will,
Get some loose tea from a good vendor and give that a try. The tea in bag tea is the dust and sweepings from loose tea. For a green tea, I am partial to Dragon Well tea from my friends at Tea ReX www.tearex.com. For a black tea, any Assam is a reliable choice, but I really like the Darjeeling Makaibari Estate - First Flush (Organic) from Tea ReX.
Definitely get a good pot, like a brown betty, and switch to loose leaf. I've always preferred Japanese varieties,and in particular Genmaicha and Hojicha. For black, try Lapsang Souchong- a very manly tea, and great with a cigar.
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