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For years now we’ve heard that tea is one of the healthiest things you can drink. We’ve read and heard about how good tea is for our immune system, how it can ward off cancer, and how it can strengthen our arteries and prevent heart disease. Tea has, in fact, been touted as a super-food, a natural source of unique compounds that help improve our health in every way. But just how effective is tea for keeping us healthy? And more specifically, just how good is tea for our heart?

Ever since we first noticed that people from eastern tea-drinking cultures seemed to enjoy longer and healthier lives, tea has become the focus for an intense amount of research. While initial examinations have conclusively demonstrated that regular green tea consumption reduces the risk of almost every major disease, more recent studies have begun to reveal exactly how and why tea is as beneficial as it is.

Scientifically speaking, tea derives all of its major healing benefits from a powerful group of antioxidants known as catechins. When it comes to your cardiovascular health, these catechins protect your heart and your arteries in two significant ways.

Firstly, these antioxidants have an amazing relaxing power on your arteries. Multiple studies have shown that by drinking a single cup of tea, you can make your blood vessels more flexible for up to two hours. Because your arteries are able to expand and contract more readily, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood through your body, and as a result, your blood pressure will remain lower.

Secondly, these antioxidants also reduce the number of free radicals (harmful molecules) present in your blood stream. In layman’s terms, this means that the compounds present in tea prevent harmful plaque from building up on your arterial walls. These antioxidants are so powerful, that they will prevent damage and permanent arterial hardening regardless of how unhealthy your diet is. Even the greasiest fast food seems to have little effect on your heart so long as you have a glass of tea with your meal.

Although tea is a potent ally for protecting the health of your heart, there are a few ways to ensure you receive its maximum benefits. Just a little bit of citrus added to your tea has been shown to vastly increase the amount of antioxidants your body will absorb. At the same time, new research from Germany has revealed that adding dairy milk to your tea will render these antioxidants completely ineffective. So the next time you sit down to enjoy your afternoon cup, think lemon and honey instead of sugar and cream.

Most supplements as you may be aware should be taken in the correct dosage and green tea is no exception. It has become increasingly popular as a refreshing drink with the added bonus of helping with weight loss and to improve our general health.

Is there a guide to how much is safe to take? Does taking tea have any possible side effects?

As with most supplements, the possibility of taking too much is always a consideration and tea is no exception. Caffeine in take is the more obvious issue in the consumption of too much green tea.

Although coffee has a higher percentage of caffeine than tea it is still quite easy to take too much, giving unpleasant side effects. The most common side effects of too much caffeine include, fast or irregular heart beat, vomiting and diarrhoea, restlessness and irritability to name but a few.

Other than caffeine overload, there are a few other side effects from drinking too much tea.

Other than caffeine, tannins present in green tea can cause digestive problems. The tannins can irritate the lining of the stomach, often causing feelings of nausea. The main irritant usually caused by steeping the tea for too long, any more than 3 minutes impairs the taste, making it extremely bitter and more likely to cause stomach upsets. A small snack is advisable when drinking tea, as often drinking on an empty stomach can cause a feeling of nausea.

It is advisable to avoid green tea during pregnancy, not only due to the caffeine but also there is a risk or neural tube defects in babies. Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), the antioxidant present in green tea, is a suspected contributor to this defect. As a precaution, it is advisable to avoid drinks containing caffeine, including tea during pregnancy.

Tea has a thinning effect on the blood therefore doctors often advise to avoid taking it if they are taking blood thinning medication or are due to have surgery as it helps prevent the blood clotting.

Providing you do not over do your intake of green tea, most people will be perfectly safe to drink it.

There are many tea types, which is perhaps why so many of us drink it. We are not refined to just one taste, but can match our wide range of taste preferences with teas such as black, white, earl grey, fruit, lady grey, ginseng and green tea. Of course there are many more, but these are the more common known ones in the Western World. Then again it can be drunk hot or iced and with or without milk or sugar. It is great to drink when you have time together with friends and can make a tea-drinking occasion and yet can equally be drunk on your own, in a quick, no-fuss manner.

So here are the 14 top places to drink tea:

1. Tea Time with friends, including a pot of tea and some edible treats to accompany, such as sandwiches or simple cakes. A real treat!
2. A cup of tea on the side, to accompany your meal.
3. At your place of work. Your mug of tea is your inspiration that keeps you going throughout the day!
4. It’s equally at home in a flask, it will accompany you as you take off on the greatest of adventures.
5. After a bad shock, nothing can quite touch the spot and calm the nerves like a cup of tea.
6. First thing in the morning. Who can really wake up properly without one?
7. When visiting friends. How else would you expect to be greeted apart from: “Can I get you a cup of tea?”
8. A cuppa whilst feeding the baby. All that guzzling can really get your thirst going and anyway, you are rather grounded to your chair for a while!
9. When you are feeling poorly- nothing can be more welcoming for your aching throat than a warm, soothing mug of hot lemon tea with spices.
10. As soon as you open your front door after a hard day. You don’t really think of the dinner or the kids first do you? Why then is your first port of call the kettle?
11. After that all important meeting (if you last that long). They wouldn’t really send you home without one would they?
12. A trip to your favourite cafe. Who needs a menu when you know what your favourite beverage is and they know your order even before you have closed the door behind you.
13. On the job, even if you can’t sit down, a cuppa can still be exactly what you need. Have you ever known a workman to refuse one?
14. If all else fails, pour it over dried fruit for your favourite fruit cake recipe and let it soak and permeate as only tea can, before mixing in the accompanying ingredients and popping in the oven.

Christine Hulme loves writing about ways in which we can “live well” in a difficult world. She believes in creating a safe place in a healthy family environment, from which she believes we can go out and accomplish great things. She has an NVQ3 In Early Years Care & Education and loves cooking, arts & crafts, music, guitar, singing, walking, swimming and sharing these things with others.

People today are beginning to realize that different beverages may have certain health benefits. Because of this trend, there are more and more online tea stores operating throughout the United States. Those who produce this particular beverage are even coming up with different flavors and spices to infuse into the drink. For example, there is such thing as blooming tea, where a flower is placed in the beverage and the flavor from the flower is infused into the drink. There are four main types of this drink, each with its’ own flavors and benefits.

The black type is dark, rich, and full of flavor. It is almost always caffeinated with only a few that have no caffeine. This is the type that is most likely to have a variety of spices added to it. Historically speaking, this flavor became the most popular in Western Europe and the United States when it was first brought to these nations from China. The British really embraced this beverage when it was brought from India during the time of the strong British Empire.

The green flavor was first drunk in China during the 10th century. This type is also becoming more popular as some medical professionals have published studies illustrating some health benefits to drinking this beverage. Some believe it has the possibility to decrease the risk of heart disease and even some types of cancer. It is usually light yellow in color and it has a lighter taste, especially compared to any kind of black flavor. In many Asian nations, this flavor is so popular it has been incorporated into ice cream.

The white type also has its’ roots in China and is arguably the lightest in flavor of all the different types of this beverage. Sometimes fruit flavors are added to increase sweetness, especially for consumers in the United States. The most common fruity flavor that is added to this is some type of berry, usually raspberry.

Finally, Oolong is yet a third type that is historically linked to China. It is not as well known as the three previously mentioned flavors. To most who consume it, it has a medium strength of flavor. It has only recently become more popular in the United States, since more and more people are willing to try different types of this beverage.

This beverage is one that will most likely only become more popular over the course of time. It is a drink that can be served hot or cold with ice. There are also a few additives that people like to put into this drink. When this is served hot, people like to put sugar and sometimes a little bit of milk into the beverage to add some sweetness. Also, when it is served cold, people like to add sugar to take away some of the bitterness of the drink. It will be interesting to see how the popularity of this beverage will affect other products, like ice cream, as it has in many Asian nations.

All teas need to be protected whether it is herb, fruit or black teas. A good tea bag is needed and a number of things need to be considered when making a good tea bag. These are the things that are important to make that prefect bag.

The basic principal of the tea bag is to stop the leaves from spilling out in the cup or tea pot and yet allowing the tea aroma and favor to escape. The typical tea bag will be made of a filter paper that will feature small holes, these holes are used to allow water to make contact with the tea leaves and yet keep the leaves from spilling out into the cup. The filter paper is something like what you find in coffee filters.

Much technology and study as gone into the shape of the tea bag and the standard shape has been the square, this is due to the regular shape that allows even water flow to make contact with all the leaves. Other shapes such as circle and triangular has been used by several companies, but this makes for a harder tea bag to handle when removing from the pot or cup.

Tea bags have also been produced with string and tabs, again this is to facilitate handling of the bags when removing, they are attached to the bag by means of a staple and the string has a simple paper tab at the other end where you hold to remove the bag.

The bags can be sold as empty, which will allow the person to make his own tea, allowing you to adjust the strength of your tea. This is for people who like loose tea but do not like the hassle of fishing out the loose leaves from their cup. You can also mix and match your own favors by using loose teas then putting them in a common bag.

Bagging your own tea bags are certainly a good way for you to get the best of both worlds when it comes to making tea, you do not have the hassle of the time it takes to make a cup of tea with loose tea yet at the same time you will have a higher quality tea which will make for a better brew.

Bags are an important part of any tea and the shape and size will pay an important part in helping you choice the right form of tea.