Aging Backwards Tuesday Tips #36: Tea Time

Recent studies and reports have attributed health benefits to tea, especially green tea.

"Fruits, vegetables and tea all contain important antioxidants. Research suggests these phytonutrients may contribute substantially to the promotion of health and the prevention of chronic disease. For example, recent research studies reveal the antioxidants in tea may inhibit the growth of cancer cells and support cardiovascular health," according to Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., F.A.C.N., Chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

There are three basic kinds of tea, according to The Tea Association of the United States of America - Black, Oolong and Green tea. In the U.S., 94 percent of the tea consumed is black tea, five percent is green and the rest is Oolong. Tea is the most popular beverage in the world, after water, but in the U.S. it comes in sixth after water, coffee, sodas, beer and milk.

The first references to tea date back almost 5,000 years. According to Chinese literature, Emperor Shen Dung, who was known as "The Divine Healer," would boil his water before drinking it, a health practice still in use today. As the story goes, one day he was boiling some water when the leaves of a tree dropped into the pot. Instead of removing them, he boiled them and discovered a fragrant, delicious beverage.

Iced tea was invented quite by accident as well at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. A young Englishman named Richard Blechynden, who had come all the way from India to bring teas from the Far East to the fair, sat idle in the heat while the other vendors prospered. Thinking quickly, he poured his tea over ice and it became an instant success.

Contrary to what many people believe, both green and black tea have about the same amount of caffeine, since both teas are derived from the same exact plant, the Camelia sinensis, and only the processing differs. If you brew the green tea for a shorter amount of time, which is recommended, then it will have a lower caffeine content, but the raw teas are nearly identical.

Tips for Enjoying Tea

1) Brew to your taste. It seems simple: boil some water, stick a tea bag into a tea cup and voila, a great cup of tea, right? According to the Web site Generation Tea, there's much more to it. Check out their chart for brewing the perfect cup HERE.

2) Match your tea to your meal. Just like wine, some teas seem to go better with certain foods. General guidelines suggest that green tea pairs well with mild-flavored seafood, while Oolong tea complements chicken dishes and black tea goes well with creamy and high-fat dishes such as creamy pastas and curries.

3) Take your temperature. The temperature at which you brew tea has an effect on its flavor and caffeine content. For example, the water for black teas should be added at the boiling point because many of the active substances don't develop at lower temperatures, but other teas should only be steeped with hot water that has not been boiled. According to an entry in Wikipedia, one way to taste a tea throughout its entire process is to "add hot water to a cup containing the leaves and after about 30 seconds to taste the tea. As the tea leaves unfold (known as 'The Agony of the Leaves') they give up various parts of themselves to the water and thus the taste evolves. Continuing this from the very first flavours to the time beyond which the tea is quite stewed will allow an appreciation of the tea throughout its entire length."

4) Choose your additives. The classic additives to black tea are: sugar; honey; milk; lemon; milk and sugar; lemon and sugar; and lemon and honey. Cream should be avoided because it is too heavy for tea. Milk and honey don't go together well for most palates and milk and lemon should be avoided completely because the lemon curdles the milk (I learned that lesson as a child.) Green and Oolong teas are meant to be enjoyed with nothing added.

5) Add more flavor. I don't know about you, but I have always thought that if I steep my tea bags for a longer period of time, I will get more tea flavor. Turns out, this is completely false. The way to get stronger tea flavor is to use more tea bags. Steeping the tea longer simply brings out the bitter flavor of the tannins.

Now that I've learned some new facts about tea, I plan on taking time out from my busy day today to relax and enjoy a cup. How about you? To your health...