While coffee can sponge up the vitamins in your body, black and green tea have the opposite effect. Now if you don’t know what black and green tea is—think Lipton Tea (something popular in the States) Lipton tea is made of black and green tea.
Black Tea . . .
is tea that has been fermented. It can be found in any tea isle of any grocery store. Some popular varieties are : Breakfast teas, Orange pekoe, Darjeeling, and so on.
Unlike coffee, the lower amounts of caffeine in black tea help blood flow in the brain (alertness) without putting pressure on the heart. The tea has something in it called Tannins–which is an astringent (a chemical causing retraction of body tissues and canals–Word Web) found naturally in many herbs which have soothing anti-inflammatory effects on a person’s digestive tract. Tannins also help the mind. Black tea also has small traces of Fluoride and is said to help tooth decay–so again, way better than coffee.
Black Tea can stop diarrhea—steep a cup of water for 15 minutes –this makes sure the tannins leave the tea and enter the cup–drink unsweetened.
Black Tea can lower cholesterol levels–drink 2 cups of black tea everyday for 3 weeks.
Green Tea comes from the same plant as Black tea only its not been fermented. And sometimes, certain types of Green tea is lightly roasted.
Green Tea . . .
has many of the same qualities as Black tea–the same tannins, prevention of tooth decay, lower blood pressure, detoxification, anti-inflammatory, improves concentration, invigorates the body, and lowers the rick of heart disease and some types of cancer.
To lesson the caffeine in Green tea–pour some water over the leaves before putting them in your cup. Strain the water off after 30 seconds. Caffeine is the first to flood any cup of water–the longer the tea soaks, though, the more tannins enter the cup.
For those who are trying to quit drinking coffee, green tea seems to help since it has a slight bitter taste.
The Pagan & the Pen ~ An Online Magazine! 