It’s Tea Time

Jan 30, 2023Food, Metabolic Balance®

It’s Tea Time

There are a plethora of coffee shops, but very few tea shops. Now in a different country, that might be different. Not that you can’t go to a coffee shop and get tea, but very few people say I need a “tea break” instead of a “coffee break”. Tea is a very popular drink around the world in many, many cultures. So let’s look at why have a “tea break” may be beneficial to your health.

History of Tea

There are a number of legends of the origin of tea in different cultures.

The legend of tea in Chinese culture goes back to 2727 BC when Emperor Shen Nong was purifying water under the shelter of a tea tree when some leaves blew into the brewing pot. The result was a delightful flavor, and aroma and it became a daily drink in Chinese Culture.

Many cultural backgrounds with tea came from China trading, especially along the Silk Road. While some countries like India have indigenous tea plants, the concept of making tea from these plants wasn’t brought to them until the British came and began producing tea in 1850 and then became part of the Indian diet.

Tea has become a very worldly drink that in recent research found to provide powerful antioxidants and other health benefits, and in modern culture, a healthier option than coffee or soda. [1]

Black Tea

Black tea is one of the most commonly consumed teas in the world. It is often blended with other tea flavors such as Ear Gray and Chai. If you are looking for a caffeine boost, this is your best option after coffee.

Black tea contains antioxidants that combat the free radicals you have within your body that actually go around damaging your cells. Along with this benefit, black tea also helps reduce inflammation found in the body. Oftentimes we think of a swollen ankle being inflamed or inflammation from a wound. Inflammation can be a chronic building condition within the body due to the body’s inflammatory response to something that is triggering it within the body.

When we look at the various types of antioxidants, polyphenols, flavonoids are the key types that have positive effects on the body. Polyphenols is actually a category of compounds found naturally in various types of plants. Flavonoids make up about 60% of the polyphenols category that have shown to benefit heart health. [2]

Other benefits may include:

May lower “bad” LDL cholesterol
May improve gut health
May reduce blood pressure
May reduce the risk of stroke
May lower blood sugar levels
May reduce the risk of cancer
May improve focus

To dive into these benefits more visit: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/black-tea-benefits

Enjoy Your Cup of Tea

You can simply enjoy a black cup of tea and keep it simple. Black tea is often paired with other kinds and even spiced up with some great spices to make variations of a chia tea or other flavorful strong teas. It’s easy enough to add a little whole milk, goat milk or non-dairy milk to add a little cream. We recommend more organic, natural sweeteners such as raw cane sugar, honey, maple syrup, stevia etc. But with any product, you have to look at the processing something goes through and look for the labels of organic food.

Here is fun and creative site that uses black tea for a variety of kinds of drinks: https://www.thespruceeats.com/black-tea-recipes-764980

Tea and Your Healthy Lifestyle

While you can make anything unhealthy by adding too much sweetener, processed foods and choosing poor quality foods, the essence of the black tea in a healthy lifestyle will benefit your health when you drink a cup a day. It’s your choice how you want to approach to start drinking tea. It might start off with half milk and a lot of sugar. As you continue to practice this new routine and shift in taste, you might choose to reduce the amount of milk and sugar you use in your tea. This strategy is called harm reduction. A method we coach on in our FCM Coaching Series and build into your tool box to practicing a healthy lifestyle that achieves your weight loss and health goals, as well as maintaining it.

FCM Coaching

If you are ready to take on a lifestyle approach program that addresses the way you think, eat and move, it’s time to find out more about FCM Coaching. We have scientifically based methods and tools to provide you with tools and knowledge to help you make sustaining life-long changes to achieve your weight and health goals. Book a Discovery Call and talk with one of our Intrinsic Coaching Certified and Metabolic Balance® Certified Coaches.