Posts filed under 'Tea in the News'
If you’re looking to improve your health in the upcoming year, tea can help.
- Tea has almost no calories, and flavorful loose leaf teas do not need caloric sweeteners.
- Tea replaces other sugary beverages like soda.
- Tea is full of antioxidants, which have been linked to fighting a number of cancers, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, and other types of cancer.
- Tea is good for the cardiovascular system and dental health.
- Tea may fight the flu. A recent study on children in Japan showed “Green tea is known to contain antiviral components that prevent influenza infection.”
- Tea has some caffeine, which is released slowly for an extended level of alertness without a sudden crash.
- ECGC, the main antioxidant in green tea, may prevent Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. In 2007, at the Fourth International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health in Washington D.C., Dr. Silvia Mandell presented the results of her study which showed the main antioxidant polyphenol of green tea extract, EGCG, when fed to mice induced with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, helped to protect brain cells from dying, as well as ‘rescuing’ already damaged neurons in the brain, a phenomenon called neurorescue or neurorestoration. The Michael J. Fox Foundation is holding tests in China on early Parkinson’s patients for further research.
- Due to the inclusion of both caffeine and l.theanine, tea induces a relaxed state of alertness; it keeps you energized without being jittery, so you’re better able to focus and study. It may even be an effective treatment for ADHD.
- Tea tastes good, and may even help suppress your appetite so you don’t overeat.
It seems no matter what your resolution is this year, tea can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.
January 3rd, 2012
As I mentioned in my previous post, the business of tea in China is much more dynamic than one might think. (Or at least than I had pondered.) After all they are credited with discovering tea over 5000 years ago, and are one of the top producers in the world. And we know they continue to research the development, growing, processing, and health properties of tea.
Tea is such a vital part of the Chinese culture and economy that there are literally millions of people involved in every aspect of tea. This is part of their strength as a producer as well as a weakness for them in the world market.
Since there are tens of thousands of small tea producers and family farms in the country, they have little presence or influence in the overall market, and hence a difficult time maintaining control, consistency and establishing a distinct identity. As a result, many of their products end up as components in other products according to Mr. Jun Cai, Secretary General, Tea Section of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs.
Mr. Cai goes on to say that the outlook for small producers is not good until they can build a national identity for tea.
This is similar to brand building in other areas, such as Darjeeling and Assam in India, or high mountain oolongs from Taiwan.
Though China is the birthplace of tea, they need to continually compete in the world market with the other 150+ countries producing tea in order to maintain or grow their image and market share.
Next…How to open a tea shop….in China
It’s a BIG World…Drink it Up!
Tim
October 24th, 2010
Just to add to the general awareness of tea, and not to be outdone, USA Today had an article; Tea is Steeped in Health Beneifts. This was published October 7th, so I am not sure how long the link will stay active.
Hope you get a chance to look at it before they remove it.
October 11th, 2007
It seems that more and more writers and publications have discovered tea! There were two interesting articles in national publications during the last week or so.
The Wall Street Journal on October 2nd featured and article about the Hot trend in Tea in China; Puerh. They covered the rising popularity among collectors who collect this tea as one would a fine wine.
US and World News cited recent studies showing that tea may help us focus our minds. Research is being done on how tea may affect brain disorders and diseases
October 8th, 2007
In the news of late, there have been several stories about the safety of food being imported into the US, especially from China. Pet food ingredients and toothpaste have been two notable examples. National Public Radio last week had a story on this subject as well. One would be foolish not to be concerned about the safety of their food, whether it be from China, Mexico, or the local farmer’s market.
As I read these, my mind naturally wonders about the tea we import. As a tea drinker, you know that teas come primarily from the agrucultural areas of developing nations. As the pressure to deliver products that must compete on the world market increases, so do the opportunities for shortcuts, shoddy practices and mislabeling. Some of this is unintenional, and some may be done for short term gains without regards for the consequences. However, I was pleased to note in the information provided by the FDA, there have been very few instances of tea products being rejected for importation into the U.S. market. With but a couple of exceptions, the producers were not Chinese, and for the most part, not the areas most associated with loose leaf ortodox tea.
There is no easy answer to assure the safety and quality of the tea you receive. There are thousands of producers providing millions of pounds of tea into the market. There are too many growing areas, producers, varietals, and seasonal crops for any individual to track or completely understand. My suggested approach is to buy from suppliers that are reputable and take the time to understand what they have, and to explain it to you. It takes constant work, study, research, dialogue, industry involvement, and of course tasting to keep up with this dynamic industry.
For my part, I will continue to drink tea for its’ taste and its’ health benefits. At the same time I will ask more questions so I know what I am buying. I have to beleive that this product wil continue to improve, and is much better than the artificial ingredients in most of the overly processed foods found on store shelves today.
May 29th, 2007
Last month the History Channel aired a segment on their Modern Marvels program on tea. They did a nice job of covering history, and brought out some aspects that are not always covred in many of the books that have been written. In addition, they interviewed a number of people in the industry all the way from a plant manager for Lipton to James Norwood Pratt.
If you are interested in increasing your knowledge about tea history, how it is processed (especially in a tea bag factory), and current trends, I would reccommend finding this video. It can be ordered from The History Channel for $24.95, or found at local libraries, and I am told, Netflix.
Enjoy,
Chief Leaf
March 21st, 2007
It seems that the Big Marketing companies are jumping on the tea bandwagon!
Last summer Snapple had a cute ad introducing its’ line of White Tea drinks showing the plucking of a bud and two leaves. Lipton has included ‘diet’ tea in their bottled drink line.
Now Coca Cola and Nestle (Nestea) have introduced Enviga, what they call a ‘negative calorie tea’ They say that in clinical trials drinking 3 cans burns 60-100 calories. This is attributed to the EGCG and caffeine in the drink.
Naturally, the health benefits derived from tea is a function of how much tea is in the beverage.
I suppose it is good that more and more people are recognizing the great taste and health benefits of tea. Coke and Nestle certianly have a larger advertising budget than most of the tea shops I know!
The question is will Americans recognize the try tea that does not have artificial ingredeints and added sweeteners? Maybe the advertising the big consumer products companies are doing will raise our collective awareness and encourage people to go to the source for the ‘genuine’ experience.
Chief Leaf
March 13th, 2007
With all the new awareness of trying to get back to purity in foods and going organic we also think about our water and what chemicals are put into it to make it safe to drink. Many of you have purifying systems to take out some of these chemicals. That is one way of getting rid of chemicals we deem harmful to ourselves and our children. One very important natural chemical that occurs in tea leaves is fluoride. Black tea carries the most fluoride but all tea has this most important content for our bones and teeth. For further information read Dr. Jane Higdon’s research on fluoride at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.
Loose Leaf
February 21st, 2007