Yet more evidence that green tea can help maintain your health?

Part of the University of Mauritius, the Centre for Excellence for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, have carried out a small scale study of the effects of drinking green tea on diabetes. It was carried out on a total of 155 subjects, 77 of who were in a pre-diabetic state. So what is a pre-diabetic state? It is also known as prediabetes and can be followed by the development of type 2 diabetes. Despite the name, diabetes does not always follow. It is difficult to know if you are pre-diabetic as the symptoms are unclear but if you are predisposed to diabetes, you should be checked out by your doctor. Essentially, it shows up a higher than normal level of glucose in your bloodstream. It is not necessary to treat prediabetes using drugs, taking more exercise and shedding some weight often solves the problem.

OK, back to the University of Mauritius study. The pre-diabetic stage subjects were asked to drink 3 cups of green tea each day before eating. No details are given about the type, size of cup or exact preparation method for the green tea thus it is possible that the control of this research was not exact. The other group of 78 subjects drank only hot water before their meals. The study does not state what other controls were in place for the food each group ate or quantities, times and other beverages allowed during the study.

Subsequent testing of the two groups using a variety of immune system bio-markers was claimed to have "green tea reinforced the antioxidant defences of those who had reached the pre-diabetic stage" to quote the team leader.

Make up your own mind as to how valid this study is. At least it was carried out on people rather than mice or in-vitrio cell samples. Even if you don't drink green tea for health reasons, it is an enjoyable drink! In Nature Tea - www.innteas.com

Teas for Summer

In traditional Chinese medicine, green tea is regarded as a cooling agent because it is least oxidised. It is used in traditional remedies for illnesses that are characterised by having a high body temperature. During hot weather, it is said to have the same effect i.e. if you drink green tea, you will feel cooler.

I have tried it but I will be honest and say that I didn't find it helped much, but then again, I am one of those people whi is completely unaffected by caffeine or herbal remedies (although I did find a clove helped with a toothache I had a couple of years ago!). Whether it works on an individual or not, it is still a nice drink to have in the summer. Make a large pot of green tea and place it into a bottle or big jug when it has cooled sufficiently. Then stick it in the fridge and once it has cooled to fridge temperatures, it makes a refreshing and healthy change to whatever it might be that you normally drink in hot weather.

This works well with Puerh tea too.

Green Tea and Child Cancer

It is always interesting to see the claims made by researchers into the benefits of drinking green tea. After all, the Chinese have been saying that it is good for your health for thousands of years. Most of the tests though are carried out on cell smaples that are outside of the body or on other animals so they are certainly in their infancy. Others, tried on humans, are so difficult to control that they are empirical at best. At worst, they are completely subjective.

However, with test after test coming up with green tea versus this, green tea versus that and so on, surely there has to be something in it. A recent study in Australia has found that a modified catechin (catechin is one of the antioxidants found in green tea) from green tea extract has been shown to kill 50% of the cells from neuroblastoma cancers, a particularly nasty cancer that strikes at infants. The problem is that the unmodified catechin is unstable in the human body and that limits its practical effectiveness. A modified version that is more stable is the one found to kill the cancer cells; cells that are normally highly resistant to chemotherapy. The research team have been awarded a further research grant to take the study further.

Puerh Tea

Pu-erh, the great "connoisseur Tea". The Queen of all Teas, known for its noble palate, taste and aroma. Also famous for its numerous health properties. Hand picked in the high mountains of Yunnan.
This naturally grown tea is a delicacy which is produced and delivered by Mother Nature without any human interference. It is pretty much the purest form of tea one can drink. The sweet taste and aroma are a feast and its endless health properties makes it a very special treat for the body, mind and spirit.

This tea brews to a reddish-brown colour and has a distinctive liquorice, soothing taste.

 Look out for the White Moon, also known as Yue Bai Guan, is an exceptional blend, as it has very soothing and aromatic properties, while offering an endless amount of health properties. Or for the true connoisseur, 10 years old Puerh is perhaps the ultimate tea.

A Life of Tea Growing ...

Ai Lin, since the age of 5 has been living and breathing the Green Teas which her family has cultivated in the hills of Zheijian Province. Since her infant days she knows that life begins at sunset, and ends at sundown; no school or going anywhere but being close to the tea trees every single day of her life for the past six decades. There is no week end, or a break, except the ones offered by mother nature, like a rain storm or the chill of the winter. 

She feels blessed and extremely proud to be part of this natural process that has its roots deep in Chinese culture. She and her family have this ancient connection with each and every tea leaf which is hand picked from the green hills of her home town. It's hard to believe but yes, it is still hand picked one leaf at a time; one by one. She knows for a fact that her father and mother, her grand parents worked the same land, the same way, with the same harvest, the Long Jin Green Tea.

She believes that her teas are not just a drink but a true legacy to her land that can make us feel closer to nature and with each other; therefore happier people. In her own words: We can all share with others something which is pure and really good. She and her family understands that every year they have this commitment and duty to provide China and now the world with this awaited harvest,that she feels so much part of it and enjoyed by millions for centuries.

We are extremely grateful to Ai Lin, to her family and ancestors that have kept the integrity and purity of this magnificent tea and tradition. Despite all the modern reality and technology, life at Shi Hu has not changed much for thousand of years. Ai Lin is a living testament of how what is pure and real may last an eternity. We are indeed so privileged to share this legacy that we hope, will remain as it is for many generations to come.

Thank you, Ai Lin.

Lotus Tea for Breakfast ...

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day but cold. Today is also a blue sky day, no clouds in the sky and just a couple of vapour trails from passing airliners. It is also warmer. So I decided to have a change of tea for breakfast. Instead of the usual jasmine tea or green tea, I had a lotus tea fix.

It is not a cheap tea to drink so I don't regard it as an everyday tea. It is a bit special, the flavour is sweet, slightly nutty and definitely floral. Just look at the leaves ...

In Nature Teas Lotus Tea

In my white teacup, it has a greenish hue and takes only a couple of minutes at most to mash.



So once it was made, I headed outside onto the decking in front of the house, with my lotus tea and toast and marmalade in hand to savour the tea, the weather and the first daffodil of spring!

Iran back in the market for Indian Tea ...

After a dearth of nearly a year, the payment crisis with Iran has been sorted out and handrolled Indian tea is set to be exported to Iran once again. The crisis caused handrolled Indian tea prices to crash as the main outlet was closed off. This spring, handrolled tea production is set to rise by 10 million kg to around 80 million kg in total, of which something like a third will be exported to Iran. Tea producers are rubbing their hands in glee at the thought of the prices increasing by around 10%.

Tomb Sweeping Day and Tea Picking

The tea picking season in China has just got underway. Growers have started commercial picking and their have been numerous tea picking competitions. One organisation, Lip Tea has caused a bit of a stir as they have advertised for virgins with at least a C-cup bra size to pick their tea using only their mouths. The plucked leaves are dropped into a small wicker basket hanging round their neck. Apparently, when brewed, fairies float off up into the air!

So where does the tomb sweeping day come into all this?

Basically, it happens on the 4th of April each year and is the day on which families visit the graves of dead family members and celebrate their lives - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival. Tea picked before the day is said to be as expensive as gold. Perhaps that is because there is not much growth activity at the time or it could be that the pests have not had time to damage the crops.

Dangerous Tea ...

Department of Trade and Industry figures show that tea, including tea accessories such as tea cosies are extremely dangerous in the home! Apparently, over 50 pre-school age children are admitted to A&E departments around the UK every day having been scalded by cups of tea. The tea cosy is a risky household object to have as it can attract young children who grab them, pulling the entire tea pot, including contents, onto themselves.

 So advice from the Health and Safety folks is to use really boring grey tea cosies that wont attract the attention of young children!

Indian Tea Problems Boost Chinese Tea Industry

Last month saw the news that the tea industry in India's Barak Valley was under serious threat. The reasons cited were poor infrastructure and power cuts. The roads leading into and out of the valley have deteriorated to such an extent that transporting the tea out has become extremely difficult. There are financial difficulties too. Frequent increases in power tariffs increase production costs and a lack of subsidised fertiliser adds to the problems. Such are the penalties of industrial scale production of tea. In China, a lot of tea production is still in the hands of small family producers high in remote mountain regions. The tea is grown naturally without added fertilisers as are required in the over-exploited plantations (tea gardens) of India. Processing of the leaves is minimal and carried out using traditional methods so power requirements are minimal. Since the quantities produced are small, transport is also considerably less problematical.

Even the Assam tea region is finding things difficult. The plantations are being badly affected by drought conditions at crucial times of the year. Chinese production is often in the high mountains where the air is pure and fresh and the rainfall reliable. Larger corporate tea plantations are fine as they can afford their own irrigation systems, however, medium and small growers are hit and are asking the government to help.

But this is not something that customers of In Nature Teas would notice. The teas are from China and grown traditionally and organically in the mountains. Mother nature provides the irrigation and fertilisers. A less intensive and traditional way of growing negates the need for the use of electricity during the picking and processing. Picking is by hand. Processing is done via centuries-old methods producing the finest quality pure Chinese teas. These are bought in bulk by In Nature, packaged for your convenience and shipped around the world. When you buy these teas, you pay for tradition and quality but not for fertilisers, electricity and goverment subsidised industrial production.

Tea Without Milk Please

Tea has been hailed as a healthy drink throughout the ages, the ancient Chinese recognised its properties without the benefit of modern day scientific studies. A German study a few years back in 2007 found that the proteins in milk interfere with the function of catechins in the tea. The catechins are believed to be the chemical responsible for helping to reduce heart disease. So they recommend that tea be drunk without milk.

For most of us (Brits) that is unthinkable, we are so used to adding milk to our tea. It just isn't going to happen, or at least not when we drink the mass produced supermarket or health food store tea bag tea.Frankly, there isn't much 'goodness' in that anyway. The leaves have been ground up into a powder. It is as far removed from tea as instant coffee is from proper coffee! 

As most Y10 pupils could tell you from their science lessons, anything ground up into smaller bits will react faster. So what do the chemicals in tea react with? Basically, oxygen from the air. Loose leaf tea therfore oxidises more slowly as it is not ground up at all. So logically, it contains much more of the useful antioxidant chemicals. And more flavour!

Drinking speciality loose leaf teas is therefore a very different proposition. These are traditionally taken 'black' i.e. without milk. You get more flavour, indeed a more delicate taste altogether; a taste that adding milk would simply mask.

So by all means drink tea as usual but if you really want to benefit - lash the cash and invest in some gourmet quality teas. You wont be disappointed and you might just be doing yourself some good too!