Insider’s Guide to Chinese Teas – Part 4 Green

Imagine a drink that is the very essence of nature, capturing the flavours and aromas of a spring mountain meadow, the morning dew combined with the smells of the earth and flowers. A drink that can restore you and keep you healthy. A drink that revives. What a drink that would be! But there is no need to dream, such a drink is available, and has indeed been available for centuries – green tea!

The most prized green tea is Dragon Well (also know as Long Jin or Lung Ching). Legend has it that the well that gives the tea its name lies not far from Hangshou. Far back in the mists of time, the well ran dry and the local peasants were on the verge of disaster, their crops would fail and they would starve. So a local monk summoned up a friendly dragon that he knew could help. He offered up a prayer and the dragon made the rains come and starvation was avoided. The well became known as the Dragon Well and the local tea was named after it.

The Chinese have always known that green tea is beneficial to health and there have been many studies that back up these claims. It seems that Green tea contains a variety of beneficial chemicals, including anti-oxidants. With just two or three cups a day you could feel a difference in your body and mind. The anti-oxidants combat the harmful chemicals called ‘free radicals’ that are a by-product of processes within the cells of your body. These free radicals are believed to contribute to a variety of ailments and diseases including cancer and heart disease. Out of all the types of tea, green is understood to be the most potent in terms of health giving properties. This is because it is the least processed of all teas. The leaves are barely oxidised and so the anti-oxidants remain intact. There are no hard and fast rules for how much to drink each day, some sources quote a figure in grams, others quote cups. As with all natural remedies, persistence is the key, you are unlikely to benefit from taking the occasional cup. Several cups every day seems to be an average figure.

In common with the other types, to gain any health benefit and to obtain the full flavour and aroma, you should use high quality loose leaf tea. The tea bags that are sold in health shops are cheap, and with good reason. They are made from the fannings (or dust) from the processing of higher grade teas. Since they are finely ground (they need to be in order to be able to brew whilst surrounded by the paper of the bag), they are more quickly and more thoroughly oxidised. The friendly anti-oxidants are destroyed and there is virtually no flavour or aroma. The same can be said of the cheap loose leaf green teas, again from the health shops. These are the inferior pickings, the finest leaves are picked in the spring and will be used in the gourmet quality brands. You get what you pay for.

There are probably as many methods of brewing this drink as there are suppliers! The common elements are to use spring water that is not boiling and not to overbrew. Good quality teas will come with instructions on how to get the best from your particular type.

So go on, treat your body and taste buds to the stuff of dreams . . .

Insider’s Guide to Chinese Teas – Part 3 Jasmine

Jasmine teas are usually made using Green tea as a base, to which the flowers are added. The floral aroma of a good quality variety is exquisite and as you drink the pale yellow, almost colourless brew, you can just lose yourself in a timeless bubble. This is quite often the most appealing Chinese tea to those of you who are traditional Indian Black tea drinkers. The taste is a subtle sweetness with a persistent floral aftertaste and the aroma is gorgeous. Loose leaf Jasmine is the best. The leaves are an art form in themselves; the makers will twist, curl, roll or even tie the leaves together in a small bunch. In China, tea drinking is done with all of the senses, not just taste, which is why the producers go to such extraordinary lengths.

The very best Jasmine teas are made using leaves that are picked between the middle of March and the end of May and combined with blossom that is picked exclusively during May as that is the time when they are at their most fragrant. Traditional production methods involve layering the leaves and the blossoms so that the flavour and aroma permeates the leaves. Nowadays, the blossoms are usually placed in a stream of hot air to extract the essential taste; the aromatic hot air is then passes through and over the leaves in order to give an intense flavour. The blossoms are then simply added as decoration.

Jasmine tea has been documented for over 800 years and in common with most tea types, has its origins in China. How it was invented is not known, it may have been by accident or design. Unlike most of the other tea types, I have not come across any legends that explain why and how it was created – I am sure there must be some out there!

Since it is normally based on Green tea, Jasmine tea has much the same health benefits as the latter. Green tea is claimed to be good for digestion, your heart and even halitosis! The best documented benefit however, is against cancer. It has high levels of antioxidants such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). This is one of a group of chemicals called flavonoids which are known to destroy the reactive molecules called free radicals (oxidants) that are created in the body. These oxidants are implicated in the formation of cancer and with heart attacks so Jasmine tea is a pleasant way to help your body deal with these. It is not a magic cure-all as some tea sellers would have you believe but when included as part of a healthy lifestyle, it may help. Judging by the research, which really needs to be more extensive and controlled in order to be clinically reliable in my opinion, it is not going to hinder. So for those who are not keen on the sometimes ‘grassy’ taste of green tea, jasmine is a potentially healthy and tastier alternative.

Here in the west, many other flavoured teas have been developed, for example mint tea. These are not authentically Chinese and often disguise the fact that the tea is stale. That is fine if you are not serious about tea however to experience this beverage in its full glory, buy it loose, fresh and unadulterated. It can be difficult to find top quality brands if you live outside of a big city, but that is where the internet comes in. There are many retailers of this wonderful product online, however choose carefully. Pure, loose and organic is the best but not the cheapest. If you do buy the cheapest that you find, you really will be missing out.

Complete Guide to Lowering Blood Sugar Levels Naturally

Yes,  you can lower your blood sugar levels naturally and we’ll show you exactly how in this complete guide to lowering glucose levels.   We have your easy to follow steps below.

Newly diagnosed type II diabetics is on the rise in our nation. It’s no surprise that the numbers are increasing considering our “western lifestyle”.   By carefully reading the labels, understanding the importance of diet and taking good notes, type II diabetics can normalize their blood sugar levels.

As for type I diabetics who must  take insulin on a daily basis to keep their blood sugar levels in chick, can benefit from this information by applying these strategies which can help you reduce the amount of insulin you must take.

How they measure your blood sugar levels to determine if you are pre-diabetic or if you are diabetic is by giving you glucose tolerance test.  

Pre-diabetics have a fasting glucose range of 100-125 mg/dL.   Anything above 125 is considered diabetic.   For the glucose tolerance test you are given glucose and they will measure the rise in your blood sugar levels.   Pre-diabetics will watch their blood sugar levels  rise into the 140 and 199 range and anything above that is considered diabetic.

One other note of interest: 

Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally

The following are easy steps to take if you are willing to change your daily habits. I hope your doctor has discussed these natural steps with you.

1. Your diabetic diet is the most important ingredient to lowering your blood sugars levels naturally.   Foods that pass through your system quickly should be avoided and foods that take longer to digest are most beneficial to keeping your blood sugars in check.   This all relates to the low-glycemic food group like:  granola, oatmeal, beans, peas, and peanuts to name just a few.   White bread and white rice should be limited but there is an option  you will read about below.

Each individual case is different because we know some diabetics who must watch thefruits they eat because it can spike their blood sugar levels upwards.   Other cool options include High plant fiber, potassium found in banana’s.   We all should know that carbohydrates can adversely effect our blood levels, right?

2.   Everyone on the planet says this and it should not be a surprise to you: Diabetic EXERCISESYou can be a thin diabetic, large diabetic or medium build diabetic, that doesn’t matter. What matters is the oxygen exchange rate as well as muscle stimulus.   Common exercises that you might not even be aware of is:  mowing the lawn, raking leaves, vacuum the house, dusting.   The obvious choices of joining a gym, riding a bike or walking are excellent avenues to pursue.

Did you know: pre-diabetics (risk group) if you do moderate daily exercises of 30 minutes and a weight reduction of 5 to 10 percent you can reduce your chances of getting diabetes by 58 percent?

3. Keeping good diabetic records is critical because it will help you narrow down which food groups is best for you.   Each time you measure your blood sugar levels, write it down and next to that write down what you ate, drank and exercises.   This is really important for type I diabetics because they can also chart how much insulin they took during the day.  

Record keeping will help you calm down when you see a high blood sugar reading,  Mostdiabetics from time to time will see a high reading and this is not a cause for alarm, withexperience you will learn how to quickly change that reading, so please takes notes untilyou have your blood glucose levels in check.

4.   Drinking water and all I need to say is this: it will help flush out toxins quickly and it’s vital to all living cells of your body.

5.   eliminate western habits of eating out at fast food joints unless you’ll be eating off their small “healthy menu”.   It’s hard for me to say it but you must eliminate soft drinks and process sugars like candy bars.  

6.   become a label reader. You’ll be shocked at what you find when you start reading labels.   Take chocolate for instance, do you know how much caffeine is in chocolate?

7.   learn how to say:  “decaf please”.   Tea’s and coffee’s are staples of many societies andthe healthy choice is green tea unsweetened or decaf coffee.

8.   nutritional supplements have shown they can help you lower your blood sugar levels. A lot of people have reduced their insulin levels and others have been able to take themselves off the “endangered list” or pre-diabetic list by using supplements.

9.   herbs are another great resource for helping you lowering your glucose levels.   Some of the more popular ones are: cinnamon, coffee berry, garlic and ginko biloba to name just a few.

10.   rest/sleep/stress works wonders for all of us.   Diabetics who take good notes will also notice that glucose levels are greatly influenced by the amount of stress is present in their lives.   Getting a good nights rest has a lot of merit to it, so we all should take this advice that has been passed down since the beginning of times.

11.   Yippee for vinegar.   We all know that white rice and bread can really jump up our blood sugar levels but did you know vinegar will help you keep that in check? Arizona researchers found that two tablespoons of vinegar before a starchy meal can reduce the blood glucose levels in your blood.   There is even more proof out of Sweden and Japan concerning vinegar that is a very positive finding for diabetics around the world.

As you can see there are plenty of ways to help you deal with diabetes.   Diet and exercise is at the top of the list and don’t be alarmed.   It is at the top of just about every list you could imagine.   Blame it on our western culture but now you have the means to defeat this horrible disease.   Good luck.