21st April, 2008: Ryan Phillippe Takes Tea to Go
Celebrity photographers recently captured shot after shot of actor Ryan Phillippe sporting a cup of tea while out-and-about. Iced tea, that is.
The quiet star and one-time husband of actress Reese Witherspoon isn’t new to the beverage. According to a number of entertainment news sites, early in his career, Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John once took him out for tea. The stars made quite an impression. Afterwards Phillippe recalled, “I was sitting there looking at them interact, and I’m thinking, these people have raised millions of dollars to save people. The potential power of celebrity is astounding.”
Phillippe currently stars in Stop-Loss now playing in theaters.
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16th April, 2008: What is Herbal Tea?
Herbal tea or tisane is an herbal infusion that does not contain any leaves from the tea bush, Camellia sinensis. (Although tea leaves can be flavored as well, as is the case with Earl Grey, which is black tea and bergamot.) Herbal tea is made by pouring boiling water over loose or bagged fresh/dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots.
Herbal tea is flavorful and soothing and comes in many varieties: red raspberry, peach, chamomile, orange spice and lemon among them. In addition to great taste, as Organic Tea blog points out, herbal tea is often used to try to combat sleeplessness, alleviate menstruation pain, detoxify the body and clear the mind.
Chamomile tea, for instance, is thought to have sedative effects. Interestingly, even in fiction, author Beatrix Potter, who wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit, had Peter Rabbit’s mother serving him Chamomile tea to make him feel better And she isn’t the only one. In a number of her mysteries, Agatha Christie’s sleuth, Hercule Poirot, drank herbal tea in order to recover from wet weather. Many modern day celebrities enjoy herbal tea as well.
Pick your flavor! There are so many delicious herbal teas to choose from.
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11th April, 2008: Springtime Sipping
Do your tea preferences change with the seasons? If so, start thinking green! Green tea, that is! Green is the color of springtime. It can also represent a fresh, new flavor discovery! Bigelow has a number of fruity green teas including green tea with mango, with lemon and with peach. Each is ready to explore with a light taste that’s ripe for warmer temps.
You can also shake off the last vestiges of winter with teas that bring blooming spring to mind. Like the floral tones of Jasmine tea made from the finest hand-picked teas from the high-elevation gardens. Or take your green to the extreme when you go all natural. Bigelow’s Organic Green Tea has no artificial ingredients.
Can’t quite make the switch from your all time favorites? Bigelow understands which is why they now also feature many tea classics in a green variety, like Earl Grey green and Constant Comment.
So, take your tea green this spring! For a complete line-up of Bigelow greens, visit the green pages in Bigelow’s online store.
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8th April, 2008: The Nutrient Power of the Pomegranate
Nutritionists are giving the pomegranate some well-deserved respect. For centuries the fruit has held a place of honor in the worlds of literature and religion, but it’s only been recently that evidence of its health benefits have begun to emerge in clinical studies.
In writing for LifeScript, a leading source of free, up-to-date health information, Jill Weisenberger, a registered dietician and author of several articles on nutrition, explores the many health-related attributes of this overlooked fruit. Five chief benefits stand out.
- Pomegranates pack a lot of nutrition, but relatively few calories. According to Weisenberger, pomegranates and their juice have an abundance of antioxidants and phytochemicals. These include compounds which are anti-inflammatory and cancer fighting.
- Studies suggest that the fruit promotes heart health by improving blood flow and possibly reducing the risk of atherosclerosis.
- Other disease-fighting properties are being uncovered relating to Alzheimer’s disease and its prevention.
- Osteoarthritis sufferers will be happy to hear that pomegranates may also offer relief for joint pain based on recent trials.
- Those fighting prostate cancer have good news in the form of renewed research efforts following an initial study. “The results were so promising that a larger study is now underway,” says Weisenberger.
The news only gets better! You can enjoy the health benefits of this nutrient-laden fruit even if you don’t care for the complications of its ‘natural packaging’ (pomegranates can be tricky to eat and easily stain). Bigelow Tea now offers Bigelow Green Tea with Pomegranate and Arizona Green Tea with Pomegranate and Acai (Acai is an all-natural fruit from Amazon palmberries.).
Check out these pomegranate products on the Bigelow web site and, for more details on the benefits and history of the pomegranate, view the full LifeScript article here.
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7th April, 2008: Huffman Relaxes with Tea and a Book
Like her mother, actress Felicity Huffman’s favorite pastime is reading in bed while drinking tea. The television star likes tea in bed with family sagas, a zippy mystery, a monk’s meditations, and a child-rearing playbook, according to O, The Oprah Magazine.
People think my life must be much different since Desperate Housewives went on the air. Actually, it’s very much the same: I still drive to work, go to the farmers’ market, and hang out at home. And I still have to read before I go to sleep. The truth is, my only hobby is reading in bed with tea. I come by it naturally reading in bed is one of my mother’s favorite pastimes, too, says Huffman.
In fact, her tea tradition would comprise an idyllic day for the actress. It’s such a sanctuary and a resource for me, according to an article on her official website. And what tea would Huffman be drinking? Herbal. It’s Felicity’s favorite.
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2nd April, 2008: More Reasons to Go for the Green! Green Tea that is…
A recent article in TODAY provides more evidence about the benefits of green tea. A new study, conducted at the University of Arizona, looked at the antioxidant properties of green tea. Researchers studied 42 healthy individuals who were given four capsules of green tea extract every morning for a month. The results were very favorable.
Participants who began the study with the lowest levels of the detoxification enzymes known as glutathione S-transferase or GST saw the greatest results. For these individuals, GST levels increased by 80%. This is important because GST helps the body defend itself against toxic and cancer-causing compounds found in both a person’s genetic makeup and in the environment.
Green tea contains catechins that also contain antioxidant properties, according to dietitian Charles Lew from Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Department of Nutrition and Dietetics. Catechins may help the free radical damage often associated with certain cancers and cardiovascular disease.
The article goes on to cite green tea as a healthy beverage choice because it contains six times less caffeine than coffee and is virtually calorie free. More good about the green? Additional recent studies have also shown green tea catechins to have anti-inflammatory properties, which in turn, may help people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis by reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown.
Go for the green…green tea!
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28th March, 2008: What Your Tea Says About You
Is there a link between your tea preferences and your personality type? Some might argue there is. iVillage has introduced a light-hearted listing that attempts to identify personality traits based on a tea lover’s favored flavors.
Take, for example, Earl Grey fans. Like the delicate aroma of your favorite tea, your feelings are easily bruised, although you “thrive on positive criticism.”
Those who prefer fruit-flavored teas, however, are all about fun and frivolity. Still, even you have a need to unwind occasionally and then “relaxation becomes very important.”
Have a penchant for green tea? iVillage speculates that you are “at one with yourself.” And, if you enjoy your tea on ice, you “are the personification of reserved dignity, a perfect model of self-restraint and control.”
If these descriptions are not ringing true for you, don’t be surprised, because the listings are all in good fun. Still, like a good fortune cookie, there’s a bit of wisdom in every one. Like this sage advice for black tea drinkers, “Kick back and try going with the flow; you never know what you might see from this different perspective.” That’s good advice for all of us.
Not finding your favorite on the list? Read the full article here.
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26th March, 2008: Working in Tandem: Tea with Lemon
Contrary to this popular song’s refrain, “Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the poor lemon…” poor lemon? Not quite! Lemon juice has been proven to boost green tea’s anti-oxidant properties by as much as 80%. More specifically, a study at Purdue University found that lemon juice caused green tea’s catechins, which display health promoting qualities, to remain in the body that much longer, inferring greater absorbtion. Following lemon, in terms of stabilizing power, were orange, lime and grapefruit juices. Although this study only examined green tea, the lead author and assistant professor of Food Science at Purdue University, Mario Ferruzzi, suspects that some of the results could apply to black tea as well.
Working in tandem…drink tea and lemon…to better your health!
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20th March, 2008: Spring has Sprung
Spring is here! Can’t you just feel it? The days are longer, the sun is warmer and the smells are different. From a more esoteric perspective, this all happens because spring is considered the period of time from the vernal equinox, when day and night are equal (March 20) to the June solstice, the longest day of the year (June 21.) Yet, most of us just think of spring as the end of winter, when plants and flowers start to grow and bloom and new life is all around. Colors are brighter and the weather is warmer. As everything around you is changing and awakening with winter’s thaw, perhaps you are thinking about drinking a different type or flavor of tea? If so, we’d love to hear what your spring time tea is…
Posted by Julie at 6:00 am | Comment (0)
19th March, 2008: Black Tea May Reduce Risk of Parkinson’s
Drinking at least a cup of black tea a day may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by as much as 70% says a landmark study out of Singapore that suggests that consumption of black tea may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. What makes this new research so remarkable has been its extensive scope. A MediaCorp news article notes that the findings are based on a study of over 60,000 subjects over a period of 15 years!
Led, in part, by Dr. Koh Woon Puay of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in the National University of Singapore and Dr. Louis Tan, a neurologist at the National Neuroscience Institute, the study “scrutinized the lifestyle and dietary habits of more than 63,000 Chinese Singaporeans.” The researchers accounted for lifestyle factors and, according to Dr. Koh, “discovered that black tea contains ingredients, other than caffeine, that have protective effects.” (Earlier studies had already revealed beneficial effects from caffeine.)
While optimum consumption of tea was not determined, test results indicate that, on average, a daily cup of black tea reduces one’s risk of Parkinson’s by approximately 70 percent. By comparison, green tea seemingly had no effect on disease susceptibility. Continuing research will examine other potential factors associated with Parkinson’s.
A cup of black tea each day is all it takes…
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