The Joys and Benefits of Tea

The best tea I had in my life was from this wild-grown peppermint plant when I visited the Caribbean. I had to have it every morning for breakfast and I’m quite sure, people thought I was going crazy. However, I don’t drink alcohol, juice wasn’t always available, so tea was the only best option. It just so happened that I became hooked and it felt like all my worries went away with just one cup!

Tea has a beautiful calming effect, and as a long tea drinker I’ve cut back because sometimes too much of a good thing can cause problems. It started with Lipton’s *non-caffeinated tea that I just constantly drank because it was so good and I thought it was safe, but one night my hands couldn’t stop trembling. I didn’t know what to do until my colleague told me ALL tea is caffeinated regardless of the label and suggested to stop drinking tea, and my hands never trembled like that since.

However, I gave up drinking anything tea-related afterward because I was scared but more recently; I try to drink tea only for those stressful days, so this post is not to discredit tea but to promote it with moderate use. Check out, Massive Tea Consumption Linked to Kidney Failure by Reuters (PDF of the journal article). Below is information about two of the most popular teas, peppermint and green teas, plus information about adding extra flavors/benefits, and other types of teas.

About Peppermint Tea

Peppermint tea is often used for stress relief and relaxation, the natural lack of caffeine is a definite plus (no jitters). Mint is also a very easy herb to grow — in fact, the hardest thing about growing mint will be keeping it from invading everything else! but it’s frequently found in grocery stores in a little pot so you can keep it in the house without having to worry about gardening. Peppermint tea is also very simple to make, like most teas, you don’t have to dry the leaves. I honestly just put a few leaves in hot water and it’s PERFECT.

Great Benefits of Peppermint Tea

• Calming Effects: Peppermint can be used to treat menstrual pains, depression-related anxiety, and muscle and nerve pain.
• Colds and flu: Menthol, the main chemical component of peppermint, is an effective decongestant. Decongestants shrink the swollen membranes in the nose, making it easier to breathe. Menthol is also an expectorant. Expectorants loosen and bring up mucus from the lungs. Expectorants help people with coughs.
• Soothes stomach problems:  Studies have suggested that peppermint, in various forms, can help treat the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) including pain, bloating, diarrhea, & gas. Peppermint has antispasmodic properties, which means that nausea and vomiting can be reduced, even just by inhaling the scent. It’s no surprise that so many over-the-counter treatments for diarrhea, constipation, and gas are flavored with mint. It’s also been used to help lose weight.

–Medical News Today

About Green Tea

Background

• Green, black, and oolong teas all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, but are prepared using different methods. To produce green tea, fresh leaves from the plant are lightly steamed.
• Tea has been used for medicinal purposes in China and Japan for thousands of years.
• Current uses of green tea as a beverage or dietary supplement include improving mental alertness, relieving digestive symptoms and headaches, and promoting weight loss. Green tea and its extracts, such as one of its components, EGCG, have been studied for their possible protective effects against heart disease and cancer.
• Green tea is consumed as a beverage. It is also sold in liquid extracts, capsules, and tablets and is sometimes used in topical products (intended to be applied to the skin).

How Much Do We Know?

• Although many studies have been done on green tea and its extracts, definite conclusions cannot yet be reached on whether green tea is helpful for most of the purposes for which it is used.

What Have We Learned?

• There’s evidence that green tea enhances mental alertness, as would be expected because of its caffeine content.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a specific green tea extract ointment as a prescription drug for treating genital warts.
• Very few long-term studies have investigated the effects of tea on heart disease risk. However, the limited evidence currently available suggests that both green and black tea might have beneficial effects on some heart disease risk factors, including blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Green tea extracts haven’t been shown to produce a meaningful weight loss in overweight or obese adults. They also haven’t been shown to help people maintain weight loss. (It’s frequently found in “weight loss supplements”)

What Do We Know About Safety?

• Green tea, when consumed as a beverage, is believed to be safe when used in moderate amounts.
• Liver problems have been reported in a small number of people who took concentrated green tea extracts. Although the evidence that the green tea products caused the liver problems is not conclusive, experts suggest that concentrated green tea extracts be taken with food and that people discontinue use and consult a health care provider if they have a liver disorder or develop symptoms of liver trouble, such as abdominal pain, dark urine, or jaundice.
• Except for decaffeinated green tea products, green tea and green tea extracts contain substantial amounts of caffeine. Too much caffeine can make people feel jittery and shaky; interfere with sleep, and cause headaches.
• Green tea has been shown to reduce blood levels (and therefore the effectiveness) of the drug nadolol, a beta-blocker used for high blood pressure and heart problems. It may also interact with other medicines.

Keep in Mind

• Tell all your health care providers about any complementary or integrative health approaches you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

–NCCIH

Great Places for Purchasing Teas:

• David’s Tea: the little packages of David’s Tea are so cute and delicious. It’s Canadian-based but offers a lot of discounts and deals. I believe they were bought by Teavana, so the tea bags look very similar.
• Teavana Tea: I had a moment where I started eating the leaves due to this tasty blend called Strawberry Blush Rose Oolong Tea by Teavana (the store closed and is now mainly avail on Amazon). The tea package was $$$ and absolutely worth it.

Personal Additives (in moderation to not make the tea too sweet or bitter):

• Cinnamon
• Turmeric
• Macha, honey
• Lemon, Apples, Berries
• Seeds:

Adding Additional Herbs