According to experts, only drinks brewed from the leaves of the tea plant, Camillia sinensis, can technically be called "tea." Tea has been considered beneficial for as long as people have been keeping records of drinking it. Chinese scholars for centuries credited tea with healing properties and as a remedy to all sorts of ailments from ulcers to skin lesions to depression. In England in the 17th century, tea was believed to cure headaches, giddiness, heaviness, colds, dropsy and scurvy among other things. Made with boiling water, tea was free of bacteria, which made it a much healthier alternative to plain water. And tea also contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
According to Linda Osborne in the"All About Tea Knowledge Cards," "black tea contains more fluoride than a comparable amont of fluoridated water. Tea also contains calcium, zine, B vitamins, and folic acid. Green teas in particular contain antioxidants found nowhere else.
Tea also contains caffiene and the longer the leaves have oxidized, the more caffiene it contains. Black tea has the most. However, to give you an idea of the amounts, a five ounce cup of coffee has 80-115 milligrams of caffeine. A cup of black tea has no more than 40, and green tea prepared in the same manner only 3. Linda Osborne suggests that tea can be decaffeinated at home by pouring off the first cup of water after 30 to 60 seconds, and adding new water to steep the leaves a second time.
A tea made from any other plant is more properly called a herbal infusion, or a tisane. Their use is even more ancient than tea's. Plants commonly used for such infusions are chamomile, ginger, peppermint, lavender and lemon verbena. Depending on the plant, all parts may be used not just the leaves, including the roots, bark, berries, and seeds.
According to the Angels, teas and tisanes can be considered part of one's daily rainbow as a green food primarily, because they're plants. However, certain teas or tisanes, such as lavender, because of the color of the part used to make the tea, can be considered a blue/purple food as well. An infusion of golden calendula flowers would be considered yellow, and luscious hibiscus, red. Thus, teas and herbal infusions can be another way to ensure you not only eat a rainbow every day, its a way to ensure you're getting adequate water. Herbal teas, with the exception of yerba mate, don't contain caffeine. Check out our friend Rose of Walk In The Woods, LLC for more on making wonderful herbal infusions.
According to Linda Osborne in the"All About Tea Knowledge Cards," "black tea contains more fluoride than a comparable amont of fluoridated water. Tea also contains calcium, zine, B vitamins, and folic acid. Green teas in particular contain antioxidants found nowhere else.
Tea also contains caffiene and the longer the leaves have oxidized, the more caffiene it contains. Black tea has the most. However, to give you an idea of the amounts, a five ounce cup of coffee has 80-115 milligrams of caffeine. A cup of black tea has no more than 40, and green tea prepared in the same manner only 3. Linda Osborne suggests that tea can be decaffeinated at home by pouring off the first cup of water after 30 to 60 seconds, and adding new water to steep the leaves a second time.
A tea made from any other plant is more properly called a herbal infusion, or a tisane. Their use is even more ancient than tea's. Plants commonly used for such infusions are chamomile, ginger, peppermint, lavender and lemon verbena. Depending on the plant, all parts may be used not just the leaves, including the roots, bark, berries, and seeds.
According to the Angels, teas and tisanes can be considered part of one's daily rainbow as a green food primarily, because they're plants. However, certain teas or tisanes, such as lavender, because of the color of the part used to make the tea, can be considered a blue/purple food as well. An infusion of golden calendula flowers would be considered yellow, and luscious hibiscus, red. Thus, teas and herbal infusions can be another way to ensure you not only eat a rainbow every day, its a way to ensure you're getting adequate water. Herbal teas, with the exception of yerba mate, don't contain caffeine. Check out our friend Rose of Walk In The Woods, LLC for more on making wonderful herbal infusions.
4 comments:
I've been drinking tea a lot since I was diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus. Also I went to the Tea House in West Hartford the same day you wrote to me about "Eating the Angel Way" and had a lovely blueberry tea. Thanks for your excellent advice.
<> thanks for stopping by and for your kind words! i am so glad you found the Angels helpful!!! xoxo ...Annie
HI thanks for the great explanation. I prefer mostly herbals, recently I have been trying more green and avoid black due to the caffine unless the mood strikes.
my favorite is plain nettle tea- good for everything from sniffles to asthma to severe menstrual cramps. tastes good, too!
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