green tea

How to make green tea:
 The supermarkets shelves are getting weightier with various brands of green tea and most of it comes in tea bag form. Tea bags are okay but they can deliver a large amount of green tea and if you are new to the beverage it may come out strong and bitter and put you off for life what could be a lifelong wonderful experience!.

I would recommend you start with a weak brew to discover the subtlety of its taste and this is how many Chinese drink it.

So source out some loose green tea, place a pinch in a mug, cup or tea pot per mug or cup of boiling water.
Let it stand for 5 minutes and then enjoy!

 If you prefer a stronger brew then go for it.

The thing about loose green tea is that you can make it as strong or weak as you like without waste. If you normally take sugar with tea you may find that weak green tea is sweet enough. You may also fancy trying a green tea with flavour and there are plenty about - it's a question of personal taste but you can lose the unique green tea flavour this way. Strawberry green tea tastes like strawberry! Then again I suppose it is a way to get the benefits of green tea if you don't like its unique flavour.

The Benefits of Green Tea 
Green tea is high in antioxidants that are powerful in helping to keep our bodily cells from the damage that can lead to malformation and cancer. All teas have antioxidants but green tea has higher levels than other teas. There has been some research that has shown that the polyphenols in green tea can help inhibit the growth of tumours so it's not just a preventative.

Many of you will know of the growing benefits of essential fatty acids (EFA's) like the omega 3's found in quality fish oils and some seeds such as flax and linseed. Heat can destroy much of the value of EFA's and cooking and body heat can take its toll.  Studies have shown that EFA's taken at the same time as antioxidants help prevent body heat deterioration. So why not sip green tea with meals - incidentally another study has shown that sipping warm drinks with meals helps break down harmful fats too. Another factor supporting the claim that green tea helps us lose weight.

Green tea is also high in an amino acid known as threanine that boosts your feel good factor. The Japanese culture and work ethic leads to extraordinary high levels of stress even compared to Europe and statistics show that doctors in Japan often recommend green tea to help stressed people cope. The only thing is you can need as much as two heaped teaspoons per cup to get the threanine delivery needed to make you feel the difference.

The alternative is you can now get L-threanine in tablet form. What's important to note however, is that threanine is a temporary solution. It will not eradicate the causes of your stress but can be helpful while you are on the road to recovery and dealing with the root causes of your stress. It helps you stay focused and cilled but not numbed! Prabably not suitable if you are hypersensitive, pregnant or on statins and always consult your GP first if you have heart or serious health concerns. For more information contact our Nutritionist Barry Todd for details. Finally,  threanine remarkably helps to antedote some of the overstimulative and depressive effects of caffeine - caffeine is low in green tea but higher in black teas, coffee and some soft drinks.

So now you know, why not get into the green tea habit?

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