In a previous post I mentioned how green tea has been shown to fight leukemia but a University of Southern Calafornia team have found that if you’re being treated for leukemia with Velcade it can render the drug completely inneffective.
That doesn’t mean tea is dangerous or cancer causing but it is something you should avoid if you happen to be getting treatment using Velcade.
Just thought I’d give people a quick ‘heads up’ on that one.
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Rooibos has been a popular drink in South Africa since the early 1900’s and started to gain popularity in the US and UK for its health benefits. Whether its deserving of the reputation for being an ‘elixir of life’ is what I’m going to find out!
Rooibos is Afrikaans for “red bush” which is the name it often goes by in the US and UK such as…. It bears no relation to the Camellia Sinensis plant responsible for our beloved green and black teas.
Rooibos does contain high levels of antioxidants such as aspalathin and nothofagin which aren’t found in traditional Camellia Sinensis and with lower caffeine content and tanins it has fewer side effects common in very high levels of tea intake. Although its worth noting tea has quite low level of caffeine anyway and few people suffer caffeine related side effects from tea unless sensitive.
I did note in a previous post on which tea is healthiest that Rooibos contains just 60-80mg of antioxidants per cup compared to the whopping 300-450mg available in green tea. Even black tea that has gone through a heavy oxidation process has more than rooibos with 130-200mg per cup.
Although it has to be said that amount of antioxidants isn’t the only indicator of the health benefits of rooibos. With its lower caffeine and tannin content it can be a useful alternative to those suffering from caffeine sensitivity.
Rooibos tea also happens to be a nice tea to drink for its own sake! I won’t switch to it as my ‘tea’ of choice any time soon but its certainly one I now keep in my cupboards whenever wanting the occassional nutty and sweat red bush.
My Top 3 Rooibos Teas
Tazo Tea African Red Bush
Teavana Blueberry Infused Rooibos Tea
Loose Leaf Adagio Rooibos
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Its a common question among caffeine addicts and general caffeine drinkers:
How much caffeine is in X
Well – Jasmine tea is no exception and you’ll be happy (maybe sad – I dunno!) to know that ots similar to that of green tea. Jasmine tea contains very little caffeine of note and averages:
5-20mg per cup
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I was going to do a post for two of these until I kept coming across more and more and realised it’d be easier to compile a list of teas recent health claims.
- Tea Reduces Risk of Stroke – More specifically ischemic stroke and just 1-2 cups per day of green or oolong tea can have a beneit. Read more.
- Tea Fights AIDS – The antioxidant EGCG has been found to hinder the ability for the AIDS virus to infect individuals. Read more.
- Green Tea Fights Incurable Leukemia – Another win for the EGCG compound found in tea and this time shown to shrink lymph nodes and reduce white cell counts in leukemia patients. Read more.
- Green Tea Weakens Lung Cancer Cells – Studies are starting into the potential use of green tea to weaken cancer cells in the lungs making them more susceptible to treatment. Read more.
- 3 Cups of Tea Cut Heart Attack Risk – This is old news but a new story so it makes the list. Read more.
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The UK ASA that regulate all television advertising across the country have banned a commercial by the majr tea merchant Tetley because it portrays green tea as being more healthy than it actually is.
In the advert a woman is seen drinking tea instead of going for a run and its implied that tyhe tea is just as good as going for a run – or so say the ASA.
Its all a bit silly and far over the top. I think any advertising for green tea ia a good thing because it doesn’t get the promotion it deserves in the UK.
You can read the full adjudication here.
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I posted about the Tregothnan tea plantation a few months ago and how this Cornish tea plantation in the UK is making a success of growing tea in these wet and windy isles.
Then I stumbled across a Guardian article in which the reporter went to get some single estate tea as a sample to try and was told that his minimum order of 125g was…£180!
Edward Eisler of Jing Tea said fo the tea after a blind taste test:
“Looking at it, from the colour and shape of the leaf and the flecks of green, it resembles darjeeling. It has good body and richness, but it doesn’t have clarity of presentation of flavour, which is the key thing I look for in whatever tea I’m buying. It’s also slightly burnt. I’d guess someone would use it for blending.”
Probably not worth the £180 then!
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I was conducting some gentle perusing of the internet when I came across a web directory at searchsight.com. A web directory similar to many others offering search of their huge database and also enabling people to submit their site.
So I thought – nothing ventured nothing gained. I’ll add Wonders of Tea. So as is the custom with such sites I go to the submission page shown below.
Notice anything missing? No tea category!
How on earth can these people miss one of the greatest beverages ever conceived and yet they’ll include muddy water (aka coffee)?
Absolutely unbelievable.
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Well I recently received my new contract mobile phone and being a ‘nerd/geek’ I went for the Google phone on the T-Mobile network. Well it was just a normal phone until I came across Tea Time! It’s an Android phone app that has a tea timer. You simply select the type of tea you’re brewing (e.g. black, green, matcha, etc) and then set the timer off. It will countdown to the optimal time for that particular type of tea.
So with my new phone I’ll never get stewed or weak tea ever again!
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The economic problems have had some seriously dire consequences but possibly one of the worst I’ve seen so far is the cutting of tea at IBM’s many international offices.
It seems IBM are too poor to afford to pay for staff to drink this most essential of refreshments.
More at the Australian Business.
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Found a great page on the net which shows some interesting tea packaging.
Here’s one:
More at Toxel.
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