When Ian was about 1 1/2 years old I started doing daily "rest time" with him. He was never a good napper so I felt the need to enforce a bit of quiet in our day. Now that Janie is home I cherish the break even more. For one hour a day I savor the peace, connect with friends (phone or email) and enjoy a cup of tea. Depending on how the day has unfolded I may add a chunk of dark chocolate to the break.
Over the years I've seen advertisements promoting the health benefits of green tea. I was surprised to learn recently that green tea contains a molecule called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), that is extremely effective in preventing and combating many types of cancer. Research supports that EGCG is prevalent in the body after only 2 - 3 cups.
My first attempt of brewing green left me skeptical on how delicious green could be as it was very bitter. Lots of honey stirred in didn't do enough to hide it and I resorted to pouring it down the drain. Dissapointed, I did a bit of research and learned that the problem wasn't the tea, it was the temperature water I had poured over it. Boiling water had actually burned the tea leaves. Green tea prepared with water around 170*F tastes great. For some variety I stopped by our local natural foods store to see what they had in stock. I picked up Mango Green tea, which smells and tastes as heavenly as it sounds, and Gunpowder green tea, more earthy but still delicious. At this point I'm working up to drinking 3 cups of tea per day and am enjoying finding different blends to try.
Anticancer Notes:
-EGCG is effective against breast, prostate, kidney, skin, mouth, stomach colan, lung, and esophageal cancers.
-EGCG cannot withstand the processing required to turn green tea into black so it is important to consume green tea.
Aly, I LOVE trying new teas and learning about the benefits! You mentioned that the temp of the water is crucial, but also the steeping time is important too. Green tea does best, I think, anywhere between 3-4 minutes.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a good earthy one I like is called Kukicha. It's the "sticks & twigs" of the tea plant and is also said to contain ECGC. It's also slightly alkaline, which is the environment our body desires to be. I love it!
Enjoy! Am loving your blog!
Good point Leslie! I'm glad you brought up steeping times for green tea because the times do vary by tea type.
ReplyDeleteI'll be on the lookout for some loose Kukicha tea around town.