Ladies, did you know that a heart attack can strike with very little or no chest pain? Many women don’t realize that they are less likely than men to experience that sudden crushing chest pain associated with a “Hollywood heart attack” – so named for the stereotypical movie character who grips his chest dramatically before hitting the floor. Because this is American Heart Month and the final day of Women’s Heart Health Week, Bigelow Tea wants to share with you some important facts about heart health to consider the whole year through.

As we’ve talked about on our blog, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women over age 34. One reason behind that statistic is that heart attacks can act more like sneak attacks for women. While chest pain is certainly a common heart attack symptom for women and men, women often describe a pressure, tightness or an ache in the chest rather than severe pain. And, surprisingly, some women feel no chest pain at all during a heart attack. In one study of 515 women who experienced heart attacks, 43 percent said they did not feel any type of chest pain or pressure during the attack. So what should women look out for?

Atypical heart attack symptoms (more common in women):

• Back, neck or jaw pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Indigestion
• Weakness / Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Lightheadedness

Other common heart attack symptoms:

• Pain in one or both arms
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating  (most common in men)

Being mindful of these symptoms can save your life. And of course it’s important to understand the risk factors for heart disease and how to maintain good cardiovascular health.  Luckily, drinking antioxidant-rich tea is a great way to pump up a heart-healthy lifestyle!

Photo by the Bush Library via Flickr.com

We will be seeing red here at Bigelow Tea … but it’s a good thing! To help raise awareness of heart disease in women, Friday, February 3^rd is designated Wear Red Day. The organization Go Red for Women, created by the American Heart Association in 2004, helps people all across the country plan and carry out events that support the fight against women’s heart disease.

At Bigelow Tea you know that we take women’s health very seriously. Staying active and eating right are two components of cardiovascular health, and avoiding sugar and sugar-based beverages is one way to maintain a healthy diet and weight (fresh brewed Bigelow Tea of course, contains no sugar)! Studies also suggest that tea may boost metabolism, thereby encouraging weight loss and provide cardiovascular health benefits.  And it just so happens to be delicious!

Keeping the “red” theme in mind, we thought we’d offer a few suggestions for drinking some Bigelow Tea varieties that come in those colorful red boxes: if herbal tea is your thing, Red Raspberry is the perfect combination of zing and charm. If you prefer something a little spicy, several of our black teas—including Constant Comment and Spiced Chai—come in nice, red packages too. And if you’d like a seasonal tea in pretty red packaging, consider our White Chocolate Obsession, a February favorite! Mmmmm….!

So Friday (and all year long, really) let’s enjoy our tea and be mindful of our continued heart health!

Impressionist paintings are often romantic depictions of the good life; picnics, parties, families playing, and tea time (!) are all common scenes found in Impressionist works. Bigelow Tea certainly enjoys viewing artwork that portrays people pouring, drinking and enjoying our favorite beverage, like the above painting, Tea Time, 1909, by American artist Henry Salem Hubbell! Hubbell’s beautiful paintings are recognized as nostalgic and hopelessly romantic … and we think they perfectly reflect the finer points of the art of tea!

Tea In the Garden At The Chateau de Rozieres (1906)

Hubbell was born in Kansas in 1870 and later studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago. He continued his studies in France in the late 1890s, exhibiting with many of the French Impressionists. He painted in Europe until he returned to the U.S. in 1910. In addition to his Impressionist paintings, he painted many prominent portraits including one of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1940), which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

Study For The Orange Robe (1908)

Bigelow Tea of course thinks that moments related to preparing and sharing of tea are moments well worth savoring … that’s why Hubbell’s paintings make us smile. We’re overjoyed to see tea time memorialized as a truly special part of everyday lives!

Images 1 and 2 via Americangallery.wordpress.com
Image 3 via Allartclassic.com

We’re excited about new research suggesting that green tea may help combat obesity! Researchers at Pennsylvania State University studied obese mice – some were fed a high-fat diet mixed with green tea extracts while a control group was fed the same food but without the tea extracts. The mice in the test group gained weight at a much slower rate than mice in the control group and appeared to be in better health overall.

Although more human data is needed, this is encouraging news for those who struggle with obesity, a complex condition involving genetic and other factors that inhibit weight loss. Other research reported on our Bigelow Tea blog also suggests that daily consumption of green tea can significantly increase metabolism, raising the body’s ability to burn fat … just one more good reason for all of us to enjoy our green tea!

 In the Penn State study, the test mice were fed a diet spiked with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a powerhouse polyphenol found in green tea that researchers continue to study because of its possible health benefits. These obese mice gained weight at a 45 percent slower rate than mice in the control group. Researchers suspect that EGCG may limit the body’s absorption of fat. Joshua Lambert, an assistant professor of food science who helped conduct the research, told Natural News that this study, in human terms, would require 10 cups of green tea a day, but that previous studies have shown that drinking just a cup or two of green tea a day may also help obese individuals control their weight.

So while there is no magic bullet for major weight loss, drinking green tea is one delicious habit that also happens to be good for you! Treat yourself to a cuppa!

Photo by Geoffrey Whiteway via Freerange.com

Cold and flu season is well under way and is expected to pack about the same wallop as it did last year. Here at Bigelow Tea, we’re bolstering our defenses against this seasonal attack of coughing, sneezing and wheezing! After all, prevention is always your best weapon. Here are our favorite tips for giving colds and flu the slip:

Practice germ warfare – Wash your hands, thoroughly and often, especially after blowing your nose, using the bathroom, and before preparing food. That means using soap on the tops and palms of hands and lathering for at least 20 seconds before rinsing.

Disinfect high-touch surfaces regularly – Wipe down phones, desks, keyboards, sinks and faucets daily. A virus can live for several hours on these objects!

Consider getting a flu shot – Last flu season, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending that all Americans 6 months and older be vaccinated for the flu. Nearly two-thirds of adults say they plan to get vaccinated this year. That’s good news, according to Dr. William Schaffner, president of the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases. “Influenza vaccine remains the best prevention for the seasonal viral disease,” he said.

Eat foods that grant immunity – Certain foods have properties shown to boost immune function. Garlic, dairy products, citrus fruits, meats and peanuts are all great choices.

AND: Drink plenty of Bigelow Tea! – Research has shown that drinking tea may boost the body’s defenses against viral infections. Another soothing option, if you prefer herb tea or want to forego caffeine, is Lemon Ginger Herb Plus with probiotics. This zesty brew effectively delivers GanedenBC30 probiotics, which have been shown to maintain a healthy balance of microorganisms in the digestive tract and to help strengthen your immune system.

What a delicious way to keep the doctor – and those miserable germs – away!

Photo by Emma Brown, via Flickr.com

After all the revelry and feasting over the holidays, do you feel it’s time to pull back a little? Don’t fret, Bigelow Tea is right there with you, and we have ideas to help kick off Diet Resolution Week!  Yes, there are those dreaded words:  diet and resolution! The two words combined can seem formidable, but with a new year upon us, let’s brew up a positive attitude!

Diet resolutions are all about eating healthy and being healthy.  Don’t feel like you’re “denying” yourself foods; think of it as embracing wholesome, nutritious foods (and in moderate portions). The upside is that when we eat smart, we feel lighter, more energetic and healthier. The downside? There is none!

Here are some tried and true tips to help us all start 2012 on a lighter note:

• Objectively examine what you have stored in your fridge and pantry. This tells you a lot about your eating habits; remove processed and preservative-filled foods and replace them with preservative-free foods.
• Take a trip to your local farmer’s market. Make it a weekly excursion. The colors and smells inspire you to cook sustainable recipes that will nourish and delight you and your whole family.
• Snack healthy. A healthy snack of fruit or raw veggies can tame your hunger!
• Exercise portion control.  When dining in restaurants, try a variety of healthy appetizers – instead of a main course. Another option: box half your meal, before you begin. Take it home for a second meal tomorrow, or give the boxed half to the restaurant for a homeless shelter or local food bank (many restaurants give food away at the end of each day).
• Move your limbs. Walk or, better yet, dance!
• And of course, drink tea daily!

Good luck and good health in 2012!

Image via weblogs.wpix.com

Here’s to a healthier you in 2012! When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, eating better and exercising more top the list for many of us.  After all, no matter how good we’ve been, there’s always room for improvement, right? And Bigelow Tea is part of the solution to help you further your health and fitness goals!

Reducing sugar consumption is a great place to start. It’s increasingly evident that while Americans were long fixated on reducing fat intake, we may have been unwittingly piling on the sugar – to the detriment of our waistlines and overall health. In one recent study, participants consumed an average of 21.4 teaspoons of added sugars a day. That’s adding 7 teaspoons of sugar at every meal! Yikes!

Health watchers have taken note of this alarming trend. The American Heart Association recommends that women get no more than 6.5 teaspoons of added sugar a day and men no more than 9.5 teaspoons a day. But if you love soda, it’s difficult to reach this goal. Consider that a 20-oz glass of cola contains a whopping 16 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high-fructose corn syrup!

The upside? Whether you’re looking for fat free or less of the sugary drinks, tea is a great alternative, while providing your body an antioxidant boost and enhancing hydration … and it tastes delicious! So go ahead, indulge your taste for tea in 2012. With more than 120 varieties to choose from, Bigelow Tea offers a flavor for every mood. For renewed inspiration, check out Cindi Bigelow’s demonstration of how to brew the perfect cup of tea. You’ll resolve to never squeeze another teabag again!

So to all our tea fans, we wish you a happy and healthy New Year!

Photo by Roxana Gonzalez via Freerange.com

Tea fans know their favorite brew is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, and the mounting research is helping to explain why. One recent study suggests that drinking tea may actually boost our brainpower. The intrepid health watchers at Bigelow Tea are excited by this report and, as always, wanted to share the details!

Dutch researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience, looked at the effect of naturally occurring chemicals in tea on the mental performance of 44 young volunteers. They found that L-theanine, an amino acid in both black and green tea, significantly improved accuracy for a number of switching tasks, compared with a placebo. The tea drinkers’ alertness was also heightened, and they were less tired.

Of course, as our blog readers know, this isn’t the first positive report we’ve seen on L-theanine! It has been the subject of several studies and is reported to help reduce mental fatigue, boost attention for those with anxiety, and increase the body’s defense against infection. Dr. Tim Bond, of the industry-backed Tea Advisory Panel, told theDaily Mail that the latest findings support a previous study that showed drinking two cups of black tea “improves the ability to react to stimuli and to focus attention on the task in hand.”

“Taken together, these two studies provide [stimulating!] evidence that consumption of black tea improves cognitive function, in particular helping to focus attention during the challenge of a demanding mental task,” adds Dr. Bond. So enjoy your delicious Bigelow Tea break, especially when you have some serious thinking to do!

Photo by Brian Hillegas via Flickr.com

Attention exercisers: consider following up your workout with a delicious cup of green tea! A Tufts University study of moderate exercisers found that green tea drinkers lost notably more belly fat than a control group that drank another caffeinated beverage. InStyle magazine even picked up on the story – further suggesting that readers cool down with some green tea popsicles!

The Tufts findings don’t surprise us at Bigelow Tea where we keep a close eye on a growing body of research linking green tea to a host of health benefits. This latest study supports other research that suggests the catechins in green tea may have anti-obesity effects in animals and humans. “Catechins are widely distributed in plant foods,” says Jeffrey Blumberg, senior scientist in the Antioxidant Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. “However, the richest dietary source by far is tea – white, green, oolong and black” (though green tea has the highest concentrations).

The daily dose of catechins in the Tufts study was 625 mg. An average cup of green tea has between 150 –250 mg. It’s important to note that the researchers followed active subjects – which means that you still have to put some time in at the gym or taking walks to keep that trimmer tummy! But we can’t think of a better reward after a workout than a delicious cup or two of green tea! Bigelow Green Tea with Mint and Bigelow Green Tea with Lemon would be perfect après-exercise beverages to keep you feeling invigorated. Or for a special treat (if you’re not in the mood for green tea popsicles!) try a delicious Green Tea Smoothie. Yum!

Image by D Sharon Pruitt, via Flickr.com

Scientists report encouraging new research linking caffeine consumption with an apparent reduction of risk for some skin cancers. This report comes from researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Washington … and what great news it is for Bigelow Tea lovers who prefer their English Breakfast or Earl Grey with caffeine!

Previous studies have indicated that those who drink caffeinated beverages are less likely to contract non-melanoma skin cancers. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. In this latest study, published in the August 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists, the Rutgers/University of Washington research team discovered that caffeine may guard against certain skin cancers by inhibiting a protein enzyme in the skin – essentially signaling cells damaged by UV exposure to stop dividing. This process helps prevent the damaged cells from becoming cancerous. In fact, researchers now want to investigate whether adding caffeine to sunscreen would improve its efficacy … so caffeine-laced sunscreens could be in our future, though more study is needed. Fascinating!

When weighing caffeine levels, remember that black teas generally have more caffeine than green teas. And tea typically has less caffeine than coffee (the amount depends upon preparation habits).

Tea lovers can add these newest reports to all the other well-documented health benefits of tea, like the research that suggests that the antioxidants in tea may help prevent basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, the two most common forms of skin cancer. Of course, drinking tea won’t allow you to bake in the sun unprotected, but isn’t it nice to know this soothing and delicious drink is so good for you? So go ahead … rev up your skin’s defenses with your favorite caffeinated Bigelow Tea!

Image by tudor-rose, via Flickr.com