Green Tea Metabolism

With an almost 5,000 year history, tea is a beverage that has caused plenty of turmoil including American revolutionaries throwing it into a harbor, political strife and disagreements over its invention.

The plant that is used to create tea originated in Central and Eastern Asia. Furthermore, tea is produced in several varieties including black, green, oolong and herbal. Tea manufacturing has evolved through its many years. The beverage originated before the birth of Christ, which is verified from the oral tradition involving Asian legend.

The legend of tea’s creation has risen above the historical record and has become a tale of folklore. Furthermore, India and China both claim to have discovered the beverage. Therefore, the actual origination is continuously up for debate.

Chinese legend

Emperor Shen Nong, a highly esteemed ruler known for his wisdom regarding herbs and medicine, commanded that his citizens boil their water before drinking it. One day, as Emperor Nong was simmering his drinking water, a wind blew several tea leaves into the boiling water.

Nong decided to try the mixture and found that he liked it. Disputes have arisen with dissenters claiming that it was leaves from a camellia branch while others have attempted to prove the tale by dating the incident.

Buddhist Account

According to the mythical Buddhist legend, the origination of tea began with a journey by Siddhartha Gautama. The founder of Buddhism traveled to China, and as a show of faith, he vowed to sacrifice sleep, but broke his promise. After waking up, he cursed his eyelids and removed them. Once the eyelids landed in the soil, they grew a tea bush, which Siddhartha ingested and found his strength replenished.

With the fanciful elements of both tales, they are most likely embellished. Historically, tea’s use as a remedy for the negative effects of alcohol caused a level of mysticism to surround the beverage. Buddhists began holding rituals involving tea, and it quickly became China’s national drink. Today, tea is still an essential element in the Asian culture.

During the eighth century, Lu Yu wrote Ch’a Ching, which was the ultimate manual for brewing tea. Yu’s guide brought continuity to tea production. Additionally, he included the materials needed to make and drink tea.

England Discovers Tea

During the 17th century, tea found its way to England. Queen Elizabeth’s interest in exotic extravagances eventually led to the first tea delivery in 1664. The East India Company retained exclusive rights to the beverage, which made it expensive and caused merchants to smuggle tea into the country illegally.

The actions of these dealers reduced the price of tea allowing the general population to enjoy the drink. Later, during the eighteenth century, tea became England’s national beverage.

Tea in America

After the colonists settled in America, they too enjoyed drinking tea. However, England began increasing the rates charged to the colonists for exporting the beverage. The colonists rebelled, which eventually brought about the Revolutionary War and the Boston Tea Party. Fortunately, once the war ended, America gained its own entrance to the Chinese tea trade.

During the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, a tea merchant, who was selling hot tea in the summer, added ice to the drink and created the first cup of ice tea. Later, in 1908, Thomas Sullivan invented the method of shipping the beverage in individual bags.

Today, tea is a drink used for relaxation, enhancing a healthy diet and socializing. Therefore, the beverage continues to enrich our daily lives.

Author Bio - Renee Varney is a freelance blogger and occasionally writes for delivery.com a site she loves using to find local Food Delivery Online – particularly Chinese Delivery.

Despite the amazing amount of evidence of the healthfulness of green tea, this battle is a little bit like David and Goliath.

Black tea is immensely more popular in terms of amount sold and the number of people who prefer it over other tea. Many advocates claim that since tea is generally healthy, it makes little difference which type of tea you drink.

However, there are two big reasons that it does matter.

Processing

Both green tea and black tea are made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis bush; however black tea is tremendously more processed.

The processing causes chemical changes in the leaves as they are oxidized, which naturally reduces the amount of antioxidants present. Because black tea is fully oxidized by various drying methods, very few antioxidants are present in comparison to green tea which is minimally oxidized by pulling and steaming.

People are becoming more and more aware of the tremendous benefits antioxidants provide, which include helping to prevent the development of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and even Alzheimer’s.

Natural antioxidants like those found in tea are more beneficial to the body than antioxidant supplements – various trials on supplements show very little positive effect, even though eating food high in antioxidants has been known for some time to lower the risk of major illness. Science hasn’t yet figured out how to replicate nature’s natural protection.

The truth is the amount of antioxidants in brewed green tea is quite a bit higher than the level in most food sources. This means that green tea provides health benefits that outstrip both black tea and other antioxidant rich food sources.

Caffeine

We live in a caffeine addicted world. Everyone is constantly on the go – here, there, and everywhere, rushing without stopping. People are working longer hours at more sedentary jobs, making it very difficult to stay awake.

The solution to this for a hundred years has been caffeine – daily, and lots of it. Some people are already on their third cup of coffee by the time they arrive at the office. For some others, coffee isn’t even enough – caffeine pills, high energy drinks, and caffeinated candies are incredibly common.

However, high levels of caffeine have some very negative side effects. Some of these effects are:

• Insomnia – not a great result, considering lack of rest is the original problem!
• Anxiety and Irritability
• Headache
• Fast Heartbeat
• Muscle Tremors

It’s time that we start cutting back on the rushing, the lack of exercise, and the over reliance on caffeine. An excellent way to do this is to work green tea into your diet. It has ½ the caffeine of black tea, and only ¼ the caffeine of coffee.

It can provide a small boost without sending you into insomnia, irritability, and other health problems. Take a break. Relax with a hot cup of green tea.

The bottom line is you could do a lot worse than drink black tea. But why settle when green tea is so much better for you? The antioxidants will help ward off the development of major diseases, the caffeine is lower, and you can feel good about what you are putting in your body.

Green tea can be a first step toward transforming your lifestyle for the better. So sit down, relax, and enjoy a cup!

Source: This article was written by NutraPlanet, and online discount supplements store that offers a wide variety of products. From bodybuilding supplements to health and wellness products like piracetam, NutraPlanet meets the needs for all individuals interested in fitness and health.

Rant By Kelly Meyer:

Today I want to talk about the subjective idea that green tea tastes great.

Some of you might be wondering why I’m talking about this but I assure you there are those out there that think green tea tastes disgusting.

I am sure none of you are like that – I’m sure all of you enjoy the subtle and bitter delicacies that play upon your tongue as you drink this warm nurturing drink that replenishes the body in more ways than one.

There are people, even friends of mine that think green tea is too bitter while at the same time chugging gallons upon gallons of black bitter coffee each and every day.

I asked them, how on earth can you stand to drink that dark filth each and every morning and not give green tea a chance?

They usually answer with phrases like; it tastes weird, I can’t get used to the smell, it needs to be sweeter and a bunch of other useless excuses on why they don’t drink one of the best drinks on earth.

I often try to make my case that green tea health benefits are in an abundance:

• It increases your metabolism
• It helps ward off certain types of cancer
• It’s good for your teeth
• It regulates blood sugar levels
• It contains powerful antioxidants that help the body in so many other different ways

Yet they are not moved to drink green tea. I’ve come to the realization that it truly is a micro-niche drink and that it won’t be a generally accepted drink in the states.

But what really gets me the most are these green tea abominations that I find walking down the aisles of my local supermarket.

Green tea with sugar in it and other Kool-Aid forms of green tea that have no relation to the actual drink except for an unnatural green.

Yes, this particular post has no tips, green tea brewing techniques or cooking recipes that deal with green tea; it’s just a rant and a platform to express my distaste for the lack of acceptance of this wonderful drink in the United States.

Feel free to share your experiences with this wonderful drink that nurtures the body and rejuvenate the mind. Take care and peace out.

Don’t you think green tea tastes great?