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Sipping tea is one of my favorite hobbies and soothing practices. Whether tea drinking came from my English Nana, my Drama who is a doctor and an advocate for herbal alternative medicine (this is true, she was literally on the radio saying turmeric-ginger tea can fight against COVID), or from my African American father’s list of mental recipes for holistic get-well practices. I am unsure where my love of tea stems from but my love of tea is undeniable. I recall tea being there when I had a cold or just as a pick-me-up in the mid day. The notes of earthiness, floral notes, or herbal essences in a cup do wonders for the body and mind. It is how I power through assignments and it is the beverage that accompanies my snacks. Whatever you tea story is or if you are new to this venture, we provide the following for your teatime enjoyment:
Tea drinking is a tradition in many parts of the world for thousands of years. Merge this global health tradition with your self care routine and your get-ready-for-work rituals because it will give you the boost you need, as well as aid your health in the process. As we are revisiting these practices due to COVID and new working from home circumstances, consider adding tea to help rather than grabbing a coffee that will make you jittery and stain your teeth or drinking juice that will spike your glucose levels.
It even does the trick to soothe your mind. For instance Nature claims, “There isn’t much out there [for mental health treatments]. The idea that maybe dietary agents can help slow the decline could have enormous implications for preventative health.” Tea improves the mood and brain naturally. Therefore, this provides an alternative to the laundry list of harmful and menacing mental health drugs out there.
Find out the many health benefits attached to drinking tea. The following affects are only some of the benefits of this super drink:
But here’s the cavat: Tea will not magically get rid of your problems. Tea drinking is best accompanied by health practices and prescriptions outlined by your doctor. Beware of teas marked by companies that claim to help you lose weight. Teas from the store will do that but if they market that you will be slim quick, it is likely a scam. Overall, tea is a great accompaniment to your routine. It is proven that habitual tea drinkers enjoy many health benefits and fight off many immune attacks. So, as we go through this tea journey together, cheers to your health!
The world of tea is much more understandable when your sistagirl or homegirl breaks it down for you. It may be hard to navigate the differences between oolong and black tea and what they do for you. Therefore, we provide a way through comparing tea to pop cultural icons to make the tea information more digestible.
White tea is the least processed variety of tea because it is harvested when the buds are fresh and still white. Therefore, its namesake points to the premium quality and delicate taste of this variety. It has high levels of antioxidants, possesses qualities to fight cancer, its fluoride, catechins, and tannins can fight plaque and improve the resilience of your teeth. Also, this tea provides the least amount of caffeine if you would like to avoid that more when drinking tea. The types of White tea available are Silver Needle, White Peony, Monkey Picked White Tea, and Darjeeling White Tea. Its refined floral notes were enjoyed by royal figures and courtesans, therefore, it has a boujee history. Furthermore, the pop cultural icon that represents this type of tea is Yara Shahidi of teas. It is your exuberant friend that keeps it young, fresh, and fun at all times.
Herbal tea does everything from providing supplements, initiating detox effects, improving digestive functioning, and inducing sleep. Herbal tea provides herbal alternatives to medicines. Herbal tea is like your best friend Cher from Clueless, who has a remedy for every problem and an outfit for all seasons and events. Most people only utilize this tea when they are feeling under the weather, but it has many long term benefits and delicious flavors. Some delicious and helpful herbal tea varieties include: chamomile, nettle, dandelion, mint, rose-hip, ginger, and fermented tea.
This is the Emerald City of teas. It will have you chanting, the famous lines from the Wiz: “I want to be seen green. Wouldn't be caught dead, red, 'Cause if you are seen green, It means you got mean bread.” You will have loyalty to green tea because it has many benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, containing it has skin care benefits, acting as an anti-inflammatory, and reducing the likelihood of getting cancer. Matcha is the pristine variety of green tea because many estimate that it contains 10 cups of green tea, therefore, it contains even more benefits in one cup. Green tea is derived from Camellia Sinensis, just like other teas, but it has a special process that holds the health benefits that we know and love. This process includes steaming the leaves raw, which extracts the helpful chemical compounds. Types of green teas include: Sencha, Gyokuro, Tencha, Matcha, Funmatsucha, Konacha, Shincha, Fukamushicha, Kukicha, and Bancha.
Black tea is your morning pick-me-up. It has caffeine and deep flavors that will fill the room you are in and your nostrils. This tea’s importance, during COVID, is that it helps with concentration and alertness when your house is your office, the place that you sleep, your online shopping center, and your gym. In other words, it breaks up the monotony and provides rich flavor to your life. Some examples of Black Tea include chai, lemon, orange spice, ceylon, peach, and mango. This tea adds spice to your life. For instance, Black Tea is like the celebrity Awkwafina--energetic, surprising, and always there for you during good and bad times.
This tea will sure get “oolong” with your body and mind. This Chinese tea, in between the stages of Black and Green tea, produces l-theanine, which reduces anxiety, increases alertness, as well as preventing Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Additionally, this tea reduced inflation and cancer growth and decreases type 2 diabetes. This super tea has an amazing taste and does some of the brain and body work for you. Oolong is a tea that has many of the qualities of Loretta Divine. This tea is everybody’s momma because it provides many health benefits, it goes well with a lot of sweetener, and it will sustain you.
Once you brew your favorite tea blend, inhale the sweet smelling steam, and enjoy your cup of joy, we would love to hear about it. What are some of your favorite flavors of tea and how has it improved your health and mood?
