Tea is a Diuretic - Myth

It is believed by some, and erroneously, that tea is a diuretic because of its caffeine content. Caffeine does in fact have the impact of causing a person to pass more urine and thereby lose water. There is the apprehension that this could cause problems related to proper hydration of the body. However the level of caffeine in tea is not so high that this could pose a problem. Tea contains, at most, only half the caffeine that a cup of coffee contains.

Further, with regular tea drinking, the body adjusts to the caffeine intake and the impacts of caffeine as a diuretic are negated. Tolerance for caffeine is created by the drinker and tea drinking does not cause any extra loss of water.

Green Tea Helps in Weight Loss - Fact

Numerous studies have been able to show that drinking several cups of green tea a day can help a person lose weight. Drinking green tea can help lose weight, because this helps with the natural process of Thermogenesis in the body, which increases the metabolism of the body and hence burns calories at a faster rate.

Of course it has to be clarified that green tea assists in weight loss rather than actually causing it. This is to say that drinking several cups a day will mean an extra 80 or so calories burned per day, which can be very significant if one already eats a sensible healthy diet and has an effective exercise regimen. In that case the green tea intake can actually help you lose more weight, and faster.

Tea can cause Sleeplessness - Myth

It is thought that one of the components of tea, L-theanine is responsible for keeping people awake, especially when tea is drunk close to bed time. However it has been seen that L-theanine may actually have the opposite effect - that of enhancing sleep quality.

Tea Lowers Stress, Increases Endurance -  Fact

This is another way in which tea can help with weight loss - it helps build the body’s endurance, letting you work out for longer and more effectively. Also it’s more than just an old wives tale that tea can lower stress, studies have shown that it helps lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone in the body.

No Sugar

For best results to accrue from tea, do not add sugar. Did you know that drinking green tea is good for your teeth? However this benefit is negated if you add sugar to the tea - sugar is not good for your teeth. So if possible, avoid adding sugar to the tea.

No Milk

Scientists have also found that it is best not to add milk to tea - that splash of milk even, can negate the relaxing impact of black tea it has been found. Even the benefit to cardiovascular health that is noted in tea drinkers is seen only when the tea is drunk without milk - this could be the reason why the positive impacts of tea drinking are seen more clearly in East Asian countries rather than other areas where tea is traditionally taken with milk and sugar.

Brew it for just the Right Amount of Time

Brewing tea or steeping it for too little time may result in not enough of the nutrients reaching our system and in its health benefits being negated somewhat. Also steeping tea for too long may cause more of the caffeine content to leach into the beverage, which is neither beneficial nor recommended. Also certain teas may have high fluoride and / or aluminum contents which may leach into the water if steeped for too long.

Use Good Quality Tea

Certain unscrupulous manufacturers pass off adulterated tea or tea with fillers as tea - this can end up having a negative rather than positive effect on one’s health. So it is important to make sure that you buy only good quality tea from reputed manufacturers who are responsible and accountable to their consumers and are concerned with passing on the health benefits of their product to the people.

Drink Tea in Moderation

It is true for anything - that anything in excess is bad; that moderation is the key to deriving an optimal benefit from anything. So it is in the case of tea as well - many of the so called problems that come from tea drinking occur due to people consuming too much tea. Drinking 4 - 6 cups of tea a day will cause no problems (unless medically advised not to drink tea for some reason). So remember to drink wisely and enjoy your tea and help it keep you healthy!

Well in some cases, there could be some adverse effects that could result from drinking too much tea - everything is moderation being good for us and excess of anything being bad. Similarly excess tea drinking has on occasion been associated with some problems:

Sleep Problems

Tea does contain some significant amounts of caffeine, though these caffeine levels are far lesser than those found in coffee. So if a person is very sensitive to the effects of caffeine, they may find that drinking a lot of tea during the day and in particular shortly before bed time, can impact their sleep negatively - they may have difficulty getting to sleep or the quality of sleep may suffer.

Kidney Problems

This is noted in some rare cases - that those who drink very excessive amounts of tea (and we are not speaking about 4 to 5 cups a day but even more) may suffer some kidney damage. Certain teas contain oxalates that could be responsible for causing kidney damage. And even this link between kidney damage and tea drinking is not very well established.

Bone Problems

New research has raised some questions about the kinds of tea that contain too much fluoride - it has now been found that certain kinds of black tea may contain higher concentrations of fluoride than earlier thought. Again it isn’t the moderate tea drinkers of up to 4 cups of tea who need be concerned, it is the really heavy drinkers that need be concerned - the fluoride content could cause bone problems.

Skeletal flourosis is a problem caused by consumption of too much fluoride - and which can result in joint deterioration or damage. The symptoms could be pain in the bones and joints. Also it was seen that tea prepared and drunk the traditional way was not harmful - but when it was made in a way that leached too much of it into the drink there were problems. Certain teas grown in certain areas also were seen to have high aluminum content by researchers which can at times leach into the beverage.

Poor Quality Tea

When tea is of an inferior quality or is pumped with fillers to make it cheaper or heavier, this could lead to problems as well. So it is best to stick to good quality tea from reputed manufacturers.

For Plant Health

Used tea bags still have it in them to provide some sustenance for your plants. So to offer your kitchen herb garden a bit of a treat, re-steep used tea bags in water by heating it. Then allow the water to cool and use that you water your potted plants. The plants really seem to like this. Spent tea leaves also make great manure for your plants.

For Tired Eyes

For this you can use used tea bags or fresh ones. Steep a couple of tea bags in warm water and then remove the tea bags and refrigerate them. After a couple of hours when the tea bags are nice and cold, lay them on your closed eyes and settle down to listen to your favorite music for about 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes you will feel less tired, your eyes will feel refreshed and look brighter too!

For a Smelly Microwave

If you have been cooking something in the microwave oven, chances are that there is a lingering smell there, and you’re wondering how to get rid of it. Take a cup of water, dunk in a tea bag (flavored tea bags are better) and give that a whiz in the microwave for a few minutes until the water is nice and hot. Keep it there for a further half hour without opening the door, for a fresher smelling microwave. You can put that same cup in the fridge for a similar deodorizing effect. Also pour some tea down the garbage disposal as an odor eater!

Cuts, Burns and Scrapes

Tea has natural anti-inflammatory properties and can therefore help to disinfect and help heal any minor cuts, scrapes and burns that may be sustained. A cold tea bag on an insect bite, a cut or a scrape may not only feel lovely and soothing, it will also help to heal because of tea’s natural anti-microbial properties. Sun burn can also be greatly relieved by placing cold tea bags over the affected area.

To Soothe a Teething Baby

An irritable baby who is teething may find that sucking on a cold tea bag for a few moments brings relief.

So go ahead and have a cup of tea; just remember not to throw away those tea bags!

• Whether its black, white, green or oolong tea, all the varieties of tea come from the same basic plant which is the Camellia Sinensis
• After water, it is tea that is the most consumed beverage in the world; beating coffee, beer, orange juice etc by a long chalk! Some 2 billion people in the world drink tea each day!
• According to some estimates, 5 out of 6 North Americans drink tea
• The tea plant is pruned to about waist height, to enable easy picking. If left to grow undisturbed, this plant will go on to grow into a tree that may reach as high as 30 meters.
• At one point in history, tea was used as currency: in Siberia, until the 19^th century, blocks of tea formed the currency of the people
• Here is the story of the tea bag: Thomas Sullivan found it too expensive to use tin boxes in which to import tea to New York. He found gauze packets to be a more economic option. Users however were rather confused with the new fangled packaging and used the tea, bag and all to brew their cup and thus was born the tea bag!
• 80% of tea consumed in the United States is iced tea but what is the iced tea story? Well apparently it was British tea merchant named Richard Blechynden who ‘invented’ iced tea in the early 20^th century, however many estimated date the invention of iced tea even prior to that. And long before this, tea punch (which used to be made by mixing alcohol in the concoction) was being drunk as well.
• Tea contains caffeine (a lot less than coffee but does contain it nevertheless) but it contains no tannic acid though it has often been accused of doing so. To reduce the amount of caffeine you consume in your tea, steep the leaves in hot water for half a minute, discard the water and re-steep the leaves to very significantly reduce your caffeine consumption.
• People drink hot tea even on warm days because they find that it paradoxically seems to cool them down. This is due to a process called vasodilation which is a widening of the blood vessels

If you have enjoyed this post about strange tea facts, check out our other posts about the Legends of Tea and the history of the Culture of Tea Drinking in China.

You can of course pick up the various flavored iced teas or tea bags from the super market, but then where is the fun of flavoring your own tea the way you like it? Also when you make it yourself you know that you haven’t added a number of preservatives / additives and artificial essences; rather you have used the ingredients of choice which impart real flavor and genuine taste.

Cinnamon Flavored Tea

Using two inch long sticks of cinnamon and 3 to 4 cloves, boil 2 cups of water until you can smell the spices and see the color of the water change a bit. Strain the spiced water. Then put tea leaves in a strainer and pour the still hot spiced water through the strainer, slowly into the cup/pot. Squeeze a few drops of lemon. Drink up!

If its iced tea you want, simply chill the concoction and then drink it. With this one you can do without sugar because the sweetish taste of the cinnamon will come through.

Pineapple Cherry Tea

Make this tea using tea bags, juice of two cans of maraschino cherries, pineapple juice and sugar. Use about six tea bags and steep in freshly boiled water.  Add the cherry and pineapple juice and the sugar to the decoction. Use powdered sugar so it dissolves easily. Either drink it hot or chill to make iced tea with a lovely fruity flavor.

Grape and Lemon Tea

Use plenty of water (about a gallon) with about 6 tea bags (you can use regular black or green tea bags), about a cup of grape juice and a packet of lemonade drink mix (the non sweetened kind) for this recipe. Steep tea bags for about 10 minutes and then add the lemonade mixture, grape juice and sugar to taste. Again this can be had chilled or warm as you wish.

Instant Russian Tea

You can just mix up the ingredients and store them in an airtight container for use whenever the yen for tea strikes you.  Take 1 cup orange flavored drink mix (Tang or similar), a cup of sugar, about two tablespoons of instant tea powder, about 3 tbsp lemon flavored instant tea powder, and half teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and ground cloves. Mix this up and use 3 teaspoons for each cup of tea you want to prepare.

Stronger, Healthier Teeth with Green Tea

There are catechins in green tea that have anti microbial qualities and are known to promote good dental and oral health according to more than one study. A caveat here though, in order to gain benefit from green tea, you must drink it without sugar. It is the sugar that you add which nullifies the positive effects of green tea on your teeth. 

Better Eyesight for Green Tea drinkers

Green tea drinkers can enjoy improved eyesight according to another study. According to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry green tea has a substance, the regular consumption of which penetrates the eye and can help to fight glaucoma and other eye disease. Again it is the catechins in green tea that protect the eyes.

Green Tea is Good for the Heart

Clinical studies have indicated that consumption of green tea can help protect people from atherosclerosis, particularly coronary artery disease. This is because of the antioxidant properties of green tea.

Green tea also raises good cholesterol, which is HDL and it also helps to lower bad cholesterol, which is LDL as well as the triglyceride levels. Researchers have concluded, based on their research that men who drink green tea are likely to have lower total cholesterol because green tea blocks intestinal absorption of cholesterol and facilitates its elimination from the body as well. The polyphenols present in green tea may be responsible.

Green Tea for Cancer

 Many studies have shown how green tea can not only protect against cancer but also helps to reduce tumor size. Polyphenols present in green tea are known to kill and halt the progression of cancer cells in the body. One study showed that green tea drinkers were less likely to develop bladder cancer. Development of esophageal cancer and lung cancer (in vitro) has been seen to be halted by green tea polyphenols as well.

Diabetes and Green Tea

Blood sugar levels in the blood can be controlled by drinking green tea and it can therefore positively work for people to help control their diabetes. 

Green Tea for IBS

Two types of Irritable Bower Syndrome, viz. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have been seen to be positively impacted by green tea consumption.

Boosting Immunity with Green Tea

Green tea is known to boost immunity in the body and is even thought to help those with compromised immunity such as those that are suffering from HIV.

Reference to Tea in Ancient Indian Texts

The ancient Indian texts such as Ramayana which dates back to about 750 BC have references to tea.  There is in fact one theory which is ascribed to a Japanese legend that says tea was transported to China from India nearly 2000 years ago by the sage Bodhidharma the founder of the Ch’an (or Zen) sect of Buddhism.

Consumption of Tea in India

The plant was seen to grow wild which was brewed and consumed by inhabitants of different parts of the country. There is evidence to show that tea has been used by several native tribes in India for the past 1000 years or so. And though tea is said to have been brewed and drunk in India for thousands of years, it was never cultivated commercially till the arrival of the British in India and the setting up of the East India Trading company. Tea was not as popular or as widely used in India before that time. When the British arrived in India, large areas of land were converted to tea gardens, because tea was a highly prized commodity for trade.

Popularity of Tea in India today

While it is china tea that is cultivated in parts of India such as Darjeeling (the area that produces some of the finest teas in India) in other parts, it is Assam tea that holds sway.

Tea is certainly the most popular beverage of the vast Indian subcontinent. Though India is among the largest producers of tea in the world, only 30% of the tea produced is exported. Over 70% of Indian tea is consumed within India. Today every village street and city by lane is populated with ubiquitous tea stalls and tea drinking is a social activity that all of India enjoys today!

What the Hostess Needs

Good quality bone china is desirable for a tea party. Napkins should preferably be cloth or linen. Adequate crockery and cutlery as well as plates and trays should be available for the snacks being served. The tea is always poured by the hostess and it is she who needs to ensure that refills are provided as and when needed. A clean, well ironed table cloth is a good idea; make sure there are no holes or stains.

Keep at hand milk, lemon and sugar cubes (with tongs) so that the guests have a choice. Remember milk and lemon never go together, as the milk will curdle if lime is added. Also milk should be used for tea and not cream; since cream is too heavy for tea and is more suitable for coffee.

Tea Etiquettes for the Guest

Drinking tea with the little finger extended is a complete no-no; it is simply considered bad manners. Hold the handle with the thumb and first two fingers; the ring finger and the pinkie should be curled below the handle and pointing to the wrist. Try not to clink the spoon in the cup as you stir the tea and remember to take the spoon out of the cup and lay it to the side in the saucer before drinking it. Never swirl the tea in the cup; if required use the spoon again to stir.

If there are snacks being served, remember to take small bites and do not speak with your mouth full. Don’t use your napkin to blot your lipstick or to blow your nose; the hostess will not thank you for it. Be polite and considerate of your hostess as well as other guests. Remember a good guest is one that gets invited again; so make sure your good manners stand you in good stead in terms of social popularity.

A tea party is a time occasion of social niceties and refinement. It is important that one’s manners and social conduct are befitting the circumstance and the enjoyment of tea as being among the finer things in life.

Shennong and the ‘discovery’ of tea in China

Shennong was a folk hero and the emperor of China almost 5000 years ago. He is credited with having taught the Chinese people the principles of agriculture. Rather aptly, his name means Divine Farmer and he is said to have taught his people about cultivation of food grains.

Legend has it that his servants had instructions to boil water before serving him so that it was always pure and healthy to drink. One day when traveling he and his army stopped for a rest and his servant was boiling his water when the leaves from a nearby bush fell into the water. This infused the water with taste, color and fragrance, which the emperor found agreeable and refreshing; thus started the long journey of tea from China that culminates into yours and my tea cup!

The Legend of Bodhi Dharma

This was the 5^th century Buddhist monk from southern India who traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China, set himself the task of wall gazing for 9 years while not speaking at all. 7 years into his task he is said to have fallen asleep. Being highly disgusted with himself and his eyes for falling asleep, legend has it; he cut off his eyelids and threw them to the ground. Where his eyelids fell, tea plants sprang up and thus came about the association between tea plants and their ability to keep awake students of meditation.

In the early days, tea was associated with aristocracy and the priestly classes and was seen as expensive and exclusive in Japan. Later tea drinking became more common; particular as its medicinal properties came to be more widely recognized.  There was high demand in other countries for tea so that its trade was also highly prized and the tea trade out of China flourished.

Tea in the West

The west’s association with tea is only some hundreds of years old, when explorers such as Jan Hugo van Linschooten, the Dutch navigator introduced the concept to parts of Europe. Tea was introduced into America in or about the 17^th century and it then, quite apparently, never left!