Green Tea Works Wonders

You'd have to live under a rock to miss the green tea explosion of the last decade. I think this healthy beverage can be a great addition to a healthy diet and herb program.

It happened again. Another common food became a new health fad. But this time is seems to be legitimate. It's tea- real tea, the kind we drink iced on those hot summer days. Black or green, tea sure has become a part of our society after centuries of popularity everywhere else on Planet Earth. A thirty-year "overnight success," green tea is taking the scientific community by storm. Scientists have published well over 1,500 studies since 1963, and with the pace of discovery heating up, each tea discovery seems to trump the last.

Tea is second in consumption only to water around the globe, and it's is potent medicine. The herb, Camellia sinensis, is a relative of the common flowering garden camellia. When the leaves are picked, lightly steamed, and allowed to dry naturally, green tea is the result. The more flavorful black tea, always more popular in this country, is made by allowing the leaves to ferment before drying. This fermentation (oxidation) destroys some of the leaf's beneficial chemicals, so green tea is richer in the health giving nutrients that are making this herb famous.

The active ingredients are polyphenols, powerful antioxidant chemicals, with tannins forming the bulk of the actives. Tannins are also the constituents that make green and black teas taste astringent, creating that dry mouth feel.

Fortunately, you can blend green tea with other herbs to create a rainbow of tasty concoctions you can enjoy to suit your mood.

I take it straight. How do you like yours?