TGFOP Tea Reviews (c) Silverneedles est.2005

What food/snacks to eat/pair/match with Tea ?

considering that i drink more tea than wine, i thought i’d substitute wine for matching/pairing with foods/snacks… yeah, my alcoholic days are over *sniff* …so sad…. and i was this close (.) to liver failure… ah well… maybe next time.

As always, trying to combat my inevitable slip into dementia, i’ll compile/randomly jot what foods and snacks i try to match with which teas. *note to self* your wife is the brunette one, the blonde is the maid, stop making passes at her, shame on you.

black tea (yunnan, assams,keemuns)–> anything sweet … cookies, donuts, …mmmm… snickers, m&ms
green –> … bread?
green flowery (jasmine) –> straight up (or is it straight down)
oolongs-green (flowery) –> nothing yet, cant mix the flowery with foods in my mouth.
oolong-green (nonflowery) –>
oolongs-dark –> i dont know, i dont frequent these
pu’er –> sweets, pizza

cheese, must need to match cheese with a tea, i have some nice 3 year aged vermont cheddar brick, oh and a nice expensive french import from costco (most expensive cheese i got … check price next time).

Organic Tea, part 2: The Conclusion.

as a conclusion to my own views on the organic BS,
these are excerpts from this post from rfdt.
The best discussion since i been trolling around there.

[Mydnight]
Drink at your own risk. Organic tea from China does not exist.

[Dominic T]
There is no such thing really as organic tea.

no one can control the ground/soil contents or the rain,
atmosphere, runoff, etc. regardless of what they do. It is a fact of
life today.

This whole “organic” business is just that, a business.

tea it is a sponge.
It soaks up and concentrates, especially into new growth which
are the prized buds and leaves, and that is just how it is.

EGCG and all the rest of the health benefit B.S. is nothing but marketing and hype.

Spending extra for some silly stamp of approval is just that, silly.

[niisonge]
say your farm is organic,
there is nothing you can do to prevent chemicals from rain
leaching and accumulating in the soil; or chemicals in dust and
residues blown in by the wind.

[Mydnight]
In China, there are no serious inspections to see such a thing done
and any certification can be bought with the right amount of money or
copied and printed.

[Ankit Lochan](tea grower, India)
Organic Certificates are being sold by these certifying agencies at
diffrent price tags like – if you pay a very high fees – you are
organic within 6 months, if the amount paid is lower – 15 months, if
still lower than 24 months….. the story goes on.. bottomline is if
you have cash you can become organic real quick otherwise dont even
think or imagine getting a certificate… it just wont happen – no
matter how good you are…

[juliantai](sells chinese tea)
The best tea garden tends to use little pesticides. …
These tend to be tea gardens situated at high altitude at
sloping lands

Their teas tend to be wholesaled at very high prices and not so
commonly available in the West.

[Mydnight]
These teas are not only “unavailable” in the West; a great percentage
of Chinese never even SEE these teas. They are carted away for the
royality and the uber-rich. The best green teas do come from the
small countryside places. Most famous teas, like Longjing, are
guaranteed to be dirty.

.

Advantages and disadvantages of drinking tea (green, wulong, oolong, black etc) … why drink tea ?

ADVANTAGES OF DRINKING TEA:

1. huge number of flavors to experience (and they all come from the same leaf!…well…kinda)
——- vegetal, grass, floral, orchid
——- sweet, salty, bitter
——- wood, bark, earthy, nutty, and more…
——- astringent (due to some of the tannins/flavonoids/polyphenols)
2. some mind stimulating effects
——- caffeine (lower concentration than coffee, not easily removed, caffeine in tea myths)
——- theophylline
——- theanine (may have a calming effect)
3. has some disputed health benefits (what benefits?)(weightloss)(my observed effects)
4. can be a calming routine in preparing tea
5. fulfills a need to find new things
6. can enjoy the collector’s bug (yixing teapots, gaiwans, tea itself)(example 1)

DISADVANTAGES OF DRINKING TEA:

1. can be expensive
2. full of advertising bullshit, and lies (hard to find quality tea)
3. possible toxic chemicals in tea: colorants, glue, flavor enhancers, fungus(mold), pesticides, whatever chemicals sucked from the ground it grew from. (organic tea)
4. can interfere with medication
——- blood thinners/vitamin k
——- chelates(binds) iron – prevents some of the iron from being absorbed in the gut
5. end up with alot of crap you dont use
6. you pee alot (the methylxanthines(caffeine) have some diuretic effect, but you will not dehydrate by drinking tea), stain teeth (my observed effects)

don’t forget to mix all that with some placebo, unreliable studies and vendor biased claims; end up with fuzzified information that make tea more than what it really is… a tasty enjoyable beverage.

Homeopathy and health (not tea but still water)

Not real follower of Ars Technica but they churned out this writeup on homeopathy.
i dont have the patience to read all those pages, but seems they dont really favor homeopathy’s “science”.

what i think of homeopathy: water + placebo. (while it may benefit some people, im not fond of selling people bullshit, and creating false hope based on bullshit. that, is evil).

ah yes, James Randi and his 1 million dollar challenges >> http://forums.randi.org/tags/index.php/homeopathy/

Tea making with your gloves and socks off

everytime i see pictures of how tea is handled in China/India… i cringe…

bare hands and feet everywhere… arrrrgh….

there goes another 2 days without tea…

i really hope there’s a large sink where they wash regularly
update: generally there is not and generally they dont.

here’s Cha Dao post regarding tea handling in China: FUN READ http://chadao.blogspot.com/2007/09/letter-from-fujian-pollution-and-purity.html

discussion on RFDT regarding pesticides, tea, china
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.drink.tea/browse_thread/thread/279351aec9ee403c/#

Is it ok to eat oolong/green/black Tea Leaves?

if you have nothing to eat!

kidding aside,

people chew/eat some of the leaf that gets brewed during tea making. i do too. sometimes its fun.
but its the wet leaf that gets consumed, not dry leaf – tried dry leaf, not my thing.

Oolong (Wulong), Green tea and losing weight

Does drinking oolong wulong wu-long yi-wu wu-yi or green tea make you loose weight?

Unless its the only food you eat,

NO, IT WONT MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT.

in my experience it does not, i did not lose any weight. and i drank alot of it everyday for 1 month. i just went pee alot more than usual. (i still drink alot of oolong, but its now between other cups of green, and black)

if i were to reduce calorie intake = eat less then i would lose weight, but drinking or not drinking the oolong ooshort wuwide green tea or anyother tea didnt change my weight.

There may be teas that have a diuretic effect (caffeine is diuretic, and part of tea leaf)- which means they will make you pee more water, which will seem like youre losing weight when in fact youre not.

There is that other thing about green tea being a “fat burner” which effect i did not experience, i still have the same fat in the same places. My wife used the green tea extract/concentrate for an extended period everyday, without change in diet, and she did not experience any fat changes. (i did not know she used it, she told me one day).

PS. avoid junk food “diets” : one week i started on a food binge: pizza, 1.75qt double churned icecream/day (just me), almost all the american type foods in the frozen section…apple pie with icecream on top… oh yumm…

after 1 week… i could not stop putting food in my mouth… it felt good to eat it… i missed it… (especially the icecream… i had another) …1 week gained more than 10 pounds. … (ah… bad for me: fast food binges are bad for your health.)

it was hell trying to return to my normal eating habits, had to clean out the fridge, and avoid fast food at work, and very hard to lose those extra pounds just by my (non)diet (took about 1-2 months for >10lbs).

Tea Marketing bullshit

so they’ve started (for a while) to try and push green tea.

but they dont have anything else to push it with -taste is mild, mostly vegetal…

so

1. they stick on the bullshit: HEALTHY NATURAL AND 1000 ANTIOXIDANTS, dont forget: ORGANIC ! YAY ! now add to that FAIR TRADE !

2. stick some sugar in it – that always works

3. mix it with other crap (flowers, other teas, fruits and vegetables)

and you get

not green tea,

but

CRAP THAT SELLS.

Tea and the Digestive System (and some systemic/body effects).

Things/Effects of tea noticed on Myself:

#1) Tea makes me pee with increased frequency that would make a doctor think i got urinary infection or because of waking up and having to pee maybe some prostate problem. Thats because of 2 reasons: 1: caffeine(or other xanthines) in tea has some diuretic effect-makes you lose water, and 2: having ingested more liquid … !

#2) Tea stains my teeth.

#3) Tea made me addicted to tea. I miss it, i miss all the flavors, i miss the astringency… i ….. must ….. have ….. some …. right …. now ….ummmmm…

#4) Drinking some astringent/tanninic tea (doesn’t matter which: oolong/green/black) by covering my mouth/tongue/palate with tannins sort of inhibits my hunger/need to put things in my mouth. (just did this. i was on a sugar binge with kitkat bars, snickers bite size, and friggin kept looking around for food to put in my mouth, drinking sweet soda… then i realized, aww shit, make it stop! … remembered tea… made myself some green with a bit more hot water, so it came rather astringent, drank it, swished it, and i have to say 1 hour later dont feel the need to eat no more.)

#5) Tea does not make me poop(shit). As soon as i stopped the fruits my digestive tract went to sleep. And i do drink alot of tea, looseleaf, all the varieties, sometimes very astringent(due to bad tea or bad infusion method). But as to my dismay i still had to re-introduce fruit back into my diet which promptly woke up my poop chute. Its possible that some people’s intestine may be more sensitive to the tea components/tannins so it may stimulate muscular contractions — promote bowel movement- on myself: sometimes especially tea with alot of astringency does seem to stimulate some intestine contractions. (dont know which component in tea does this, but coffee has the same effect, maybe its the caffeine, or the tannins). Even if it does stimulate contractions, just drinking tea alone, as some sort of “bowel movement enchancer” does not make me crap. WITHOUT EATING FIBER I DON’T POOP. (by fiber my body means 3-4 apples/day.)

#6) Tea does not make me lose weight.

#7) Tea does not make me better in bed (bird and the bees, etc, i don’t need v i a gra yet, but i’m sure tea is not a substitute.)

#8) …i forgot, but i do gotta go peee right now.

Does Snapple cause diarrhea?

!

no it should not.

but,

if you’ve been eating some tainted food then you drink the snapple… yes, could get the runs.

if the drink has been tainted with microbes then you could get some diarrhea.

if you use your dirty hands to scoop snapple drink to your mouth, then, you could get some diarrhea.

thank you for visiting…

Teeth

did i tell you the one where i go for 6month tooth cleaning and the dentist goes

” do you smoke ???” : no…

…” do you drink coffee ???” : no…

……”do you drink cola ?” : NO …

… ?…. “i drink tea”

eg: my teeth were stained from all the tea i’d been drinking. the cleaning removed most of the stains.

Hot tea and cancer

hot liquids are a risk factor for esophageal cancer. (biggest risk factors being: smoking and alcohol, and long term esophageal reflux)

Diet teas

watch out with those diet teas:

“A cup of hot herbal tea may feel soothing to the soul, but instead of soothing the body, some herbal teas can make you sick.

This is especially true with so-called dieter’s teas, herbal teas containing senna, aloe, buckthorn, and other plant-derived laxatives that, when consumed in excessive amounts, can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps, chronic constipation, fainting, and perhaps death.”

“Most consumers who use dieter’s teas and similar products know that the products have laxative properties, according to health professionals familiar with the products, even though the product labeling does not specifically state the term “laxative.” Instead, the labeling may promote the product as a natural bowel cleanser. Sometimes it may not reflect the laxative qualities at all.”

yes, seems that the fda does do something.

Tea and cancer

again, this is from the FDA

(begin quote)[... 

In a review article published in the July 7, 1993, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Chung S. Yang, M.D., of Rutgers University in New Jersey reports that "many laboratory studies have demonstrated inhibitory effects of tea preparations and tea polyphenols against tumor formation and growth." The studies, though not conclusive, are intriguing.

Yang describes studies in which laboratory animals fed green tea had reduced formation or growth of skin tumors, esophageal tumors, gastrointestinal tract tumors, and tumors of the liver, lung and pancreas. Black tea also has shown activity against skin, lung, liver, and esophageal tumors.

Results of epidemiological studies are murkier. Some indicate a protective effect of tea against certain cancers, others show no relationship, and still others show a higher incidence of some cancers, particularly esophageal, in heavy tea drinkers.

Although higher rates of esophageal cancer are seen in some parts of China, Iran and Japan, where tea consumption is high, it's not clear why. According to FDA research chemist Joseph M. Betz, Ph.D., "It's been bounced back and forth as to whether the high incidence is due to tea polyphenols or to proliferation of esophageal cells in response to physical damage to those cells cause by habitual consumption of a very hot beverage, as has been proposed by Dr. Bruce Ames at the University of California at Berkeley."

Yang reports that several case-control studies showed no association between esophageal cancer and drinking tea at normal temperatures (35 to 47 degrees Celsius, or 95 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit), but that ingestion of very hot tea (55 to 67 degrees Celsius, or 131 to 153 degrees Fahrenheit) was associated with twofold to threefold increases in risk.

...](end quote)

(…for those who think there is a conspiracy going on, you better learn reading and comprehension) 

Green Tea, Cancer and the FDA

for green tea and health see my previous post…

i wasnt going to spend too much time ‘researching’ but reading the FDA’s rulings is interesting.

2005 no health benefit of green tea and prostate, breast cancer.

2004 response to green tea and cancer claims.

Coconut chocolate .Weight Watchers .Whitman’s

not trying to lose weight (re/weight watchers). but accidentally found these and they’re sooooo gooood. if you like chocolate + coconut , man, this is a great candy. 3 chocos have 44% daily fiber, but 35% saturated fat (its the coconut probably) .no nasty taste! and goes great with yunnan black tea or qimen(keemun) tea. downside: they’re kinda expensive @ ~3$/bag (7pieces/ bag)…

* i ate these @ 100% daily fiber and never had a regular pleasant poop.

i tried all kinds of fiber containing foods tortillas, tacos, breads (one bread was better, it had 5g fiber/slice, another bread threw me into a flatulence orgy), fiber pills…

… nothing works better than  a good quantity of fruits a day to make a good #2.

Flavonoids

what i’d like to find out is:

1. why does the tea turn yellow-ish after awhile – is it the oxidated chlorophyll?

2. what about flavonoids at 190-200F – don’t they become destroyed by the heat? my god the heat!

3. what about oxidation… does that destroy flavonoids?

4. what does mixing tea + milk do to flavonoids?

5. what does mixing tea + sugar do to flavonoids?

flavonoids, flavanols, catechins, polyphenols, tannins, antioxidants … yup all in the same bucket.

Tea and Cancer

i forgot to mention

i drink tea

and i still got cancer

Green Tea and Health

here’s a new post on green tea ‘health benefits’

you want to be healthy ?

EXERCISE REGULARLY & maintain BMI/ abdominal circumference within normal limits. it doesnt have to be excessive exercise, but moderate exercise is best.

DONT SMOKE

DONT EAT too much FAT (LDL oxidation will make atherosclerosis)

EAT VEGGIES for fiber & vitamins (potato is not a veggie):
* fiber will irritate the colon promoting quicker evacuation of digested food.
* fiber will absorb water, and along with quicker transit will decrease exposure of the digestive tract to any carcinogens in the food.
* fiber will absorb, help evacuate digested bile juices which are carcinogenic (to the colon mucosa).

EAT vitamins, and calcium (but not too much)
* overdosing on vitamins will create as much disease as not having enough vitamins.

AVOID STRESS !!! very important.. and here’s why:

• stress leads to increased CORTISOL –>
• cortisol raises blood sugar & inhibits glucose entry into most tissues (muscle, fat)
• cortisol breaks protein (in muscle,etc)
• cortisol inhibits the inflammatory response = poor wound healing
• cortisol inhibits the immune system = prone to infections, poor response to cancer.

hope for: good genes, low environmental damage.

* the DNA in the chromosomes has only so many times left to replicate, after which it starts creating wrong proteins and kills cell function… telomeres are at the end of the chromosomes allowing for increased number of replications, and theres the telomerase enzyme which helps elongate the telomeres…even so, eventually the DNA will stop replicating properly, and cells will die. meaning: we wont live forever.
* there are numerous times that cells will mutate – potentially degenerating into cancer – but our immune system catches most of these mutated cells and terminates them. so we need a working immune system, or good genes that lead to a powerful immune system = even if you drink all the antioxidants and nutrients if you have a lazy immune system it wont help.

–+–

follow medical screenings recommended for your age group.

visit a medical doctor for prevention information/ recommendations.

–+–
this is not a medical consult, its not medical advice, talk to a licensed physician
–+–

Organic Tea, Organic food

1. at this point in time organic is basically expensive bullshit.

its just the LABEL you’re paying extra for (and this label is regulated by the US gov’t, and thats partly good. i’m scared to think of any imported ‘organic’ foods and what whack standards other countries may have… hi China, Mexico… except maybe Germany…or the northern countries… or Switzerland)

for the US organic label regulations, to be ‘organic’ they (farmers) just have to avoid using A,B,C,D substances,
…but that doesnt mean they cant use X,Y,Z or those not covered in the regulations.
read the USDA organic regulatory text (federal) esp these points:

§ 205.601 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production.
…how you like that?

§ 205.603 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic livestock production….Aspirin…Biologics-Vaccines…
… how about this one? organic milk yeah?

2. Why do you think organic is better? because you’re hoping to live 120 or more years ? …really?

is it a ‘clean’ ‘non-toxic’ body you want? come on, you dont live in a bubble. there is no way to avoid toxic anything.

3. there is no virgin soil left where you can grow such ‘organic’ food. they need water, they need air. they need nutrients.

i have nothing against non-toxic, truly clean, un-adulterated foods. i think it would be wonderful, and healthy to have that.

maybe some farms are truly wanting to make a difference, but in the end it will not matter to your health, unless you’re already eating crap.

do this to improve your health, and quality of life.
Continue Organic tea, part 2. the conclusion.