Prettywood Tea Journal

Even accounting for complicating factors, participants in a recent study showed an inverse relationship between green tea consumption and psychological distress.

The study, published in the September 2009 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was conducted at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. It sought to clarify, through a large-scale study, whether green tea consumption was associated with lower psychological distress.

A team of medical researchers analyzed data gathered from 42,093 Japanese people age 40 and older. They had answered questions about their lifestyle, including green tea drinking habits and psychological distress as indicated by the Kessler 6-item scale.

After cross-sectioning and qualifying data, the team found an inverse relationship green tea consumption and psychological distress. Respondents who consumed five or more cups of green tea per day were 80 percent less likely to suffer psychological distress than those who consumed one cup or less of green tea per day.

According to an abstract, the inverse relationship between green tea consumption and psychological distress “persisted when respondents were stratified by social support subgroups or by activities in communities,” and “even after adjustment for possible confounding factors.”

excerpt from World Tea News

A new study from Japan was published this week showing that green tea may help with stress. The study found that drinking green tea may reduce psychological stress by as much as 20 percent. In this study of 42,093 Japanese individuals, 6.6% suffered from psychological stress. In those individuals suffering from stress, green tea consumption improved psychological well-being.

The global tea market is worth about $941 million. Green tea makes up just 20 percent of the total tea market. However, research continues to show that it provides health benefits much greater than black tea, which makes up 78 percent of the market. Green tea contains over four times more antioxidants than black tea. For example, green tea contains 70 mg catechins per 100 mL compared to just 15 mg per mL for black tea.

So if you’re a tea drinker, consider switching from black tea to green tea and take advantage of the additional antioxidants and their associated health benefits. However, keep in mind that this study looked at the traditional consumption of green tea, not the blended, frozen green tea treat commonly consumed here in the United States at popular cofee shops. The extra sugar and fat found in the frozen, blended preparation is likely to counter the benefits of green tea. To get maximum benefits consume green tea as it is traditionally prepared by the Japanese and other Asian countries.

excerpt from Examiner.com

Drink green tea. According to a study published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry the EGCG in green tea aids in preventing breast cancer. The polyphenols-powerful antioxidants found in green tea- can prevent cancer cells from growing. Drink 1-3 cups of caffeine-free green tea per day.

excerpt from NaturalNews.com

Drinking five cups of green tea a day can lower the risk of developing certain blood cancers, according to a new Japanese study.

Casting a doubt on the theory of all things in small doses, the research showed that high consumption of green tea helps to fight the development of cancer.

The health benefits of drinking anti-oxidant rich green tea have been well documented, although they are more commonly associated with lowering the risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The new study, conducted by Tohoku University, analysed the age, gender, lifestyle and health of 40,000 Japanese over a ten-year period for a range of scientific research purposes.

In relation to green tea consumption, Dr Toru Naganuma concluded that drinking the beverage may have a favourable effect “for particular cancers”.

Dr Naganuma examined the impact of varying green tea levels on the health of the people taking part in the study in conjunction with examining their diets in the context of alcohol, soybean and fish consumption.

The results showed that the overall risk of blood cancers was reduced by 42 per cent among participants who drank five or more daily cups in comparison with those who drank one cup or less a day while the findings were 48 per cent.

by Telegraph.co.uk.com

White tea is made from the buds and early leaves of the same plants used to make green and black teas. So it’s likely that the white stuff offers some of the benefits of other shades of tea; they boost the immune system, improve attention span and lower the risk of heart attack, some cancers, stroke and Parkinson’s disease, to name a few.

In fact, white tea may even contain extra benefits. Since it is less processed than green or black tea, it has more of some tongue-twisting but body-loving compounds, like epigallocatechin-3-gallate (which helps muzzle aging free radicals) and methylxanthines (theobromine and caffeine). Both have been found to help increase fat-burning.

Two to three cups of any of these disease-fighting teas — iced or hot — is enough to reap the benefits. If caffeinated teas upset your stomach, throwing a bag of peppermint or ginger tea in with your brew may keep things settled.

from Cleveland.com

5 Reasons to Try Loose Tea –

Fine gourmet tea is perfect for those who like the finer things in life.
If you prefer a home cooked meal from fresh ingredients rather than a
microwaved ready meal, or choose your wine based on grape and country
rather than what’s on offer in the off-licence, why not consider fine
loose tea instead of teabags?

1. Health benefits

Specialist teas such as green tea provide many well-documented health
benefits including cancer and heart disease fighting properties.

2. Fantastic Taste

Whilst tea bags may be more convenient, making a proper cup of tea is
more rewarding and provides a much better flavour. There is no
compromise with loose tea and the flavors are really distinctive.

If there is a certain type of tea that you already like, or tea from a
specific country or region, perhaps you will want to discover more teas
from this region.

3. Different Styles and Flavors of Tea

If you like wine and know, or appreciate, the differences between
grapes or countries, the same applies to gourmet loose teas available from India, Chinese, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Japan, and each
loose tea has its own distinctive characteristics. You will soon
appreciate the improved taste and flavor of a specialist tea compared
to a cup of tea made with teabags, in the same way that you can tell a
good wine from a lesser wine.

4. Which tea is best for me?

Finding the right loose tea can be daunting task for the newcomer, and
there will be some teas you like, and some you don’t.

Green tea is often talked about as it contains many health benefits, but
what about the other sorts of teas?

Black Teas such as English Tea and Earl Grey Tea are a great way to
start the day, and are invigorating without being overpowering. These
teas are also often drunk to help aid digestion.

5. Follow the instructions

Once you have found the right gourmet tea for you, you will need to
follow the advice to ensure that you make it properly. Different gourmet
teas need to be brewed for a different length of time, and the water
needs to be at a different temperature. Getting the brewing process
wrong can burn the tea and make it almost undrinkable. In the same way
that you wouldn’t drink an expensive wine out of a paper cup, each fine
tea needs to be made correctly so it tastes right. It’s not the same as
dunking a tea bag in a cup of boiling water!

Making a cup of tea will become much more of a ritual, and scientific
process as you learn to get the temperature and brewing times just
right, to provide the best taste. Why not be adventurous and find the
perfect loose tea for you.Fine Gourmet Tea provides a great tasting
alternative to tea bags, so why not discover a world of specialist
gourmet teas today?

(London, UK) — There’s something brewing in Britain that researchers say is guaranteed to calm you down.
A new London study says tea is the cure in a crisis.

Scientists put volunteers in a stressful scenario and found that anxiety levels spiked 25-percent in those who didn’t drink tea afterwards.

“It’s always a nice thing that whenever we’ve got a problem over here, I think everyone turns around and says, let’s have a cup of tea. And it’s just that 5 minutes of everyone sitting down together and having a moment of calm,” says tea drinker Claire Benson.

Even if you don’t like to drink it - researchers say just the simple act of preparing tea can calm you down.

from OzarksFirst

It is if you’re British according to one study.  With over three thousand participants, a survey in July found that turning to a cup of tea may be a natural remedy for stress, taking into account the positive effect of drinking tea on the body due to the health benefits of tea, as well as the comfort of the ritual of making tea.  No doubt the body appreciates the rich dose of antioxidants, as well as the warmth of hot tea.  The study examined the effects of a cup of tea versus a glass of water after taking a math exam, something most of us associate with stress and anxiety.

The people questioned credited some of the relaxing tea benefits on the drink’s cultural significance - evidently being aware of being British soothes the soul.  What about the rest of the world?  Despite the caffeine content in tea, does brewing a cup of Earl Grey really have a calming effect?

There are many places in the world that tea is more or less a national beverage, from Ireland to China, but irregardless of nationality, there are many tea drinkers out there.  Tea is the second most popular beverage worldwide second only to water.  For all of us who wake up to a cup of robust Irish Breakfast, or relax in the afternoon with a steaming cup of jasmine green tea, as they say on a box of Numi, ‘ tea is liquid meditation.’  Whether it is the health benefits of tea or the ritual, a cup of tea is undeniably a cozy way to deal with life’s little problems. 

from Examiner.com