Tea may be rated as one of the highest rated beverages in the world next to coffee. Herbal teas are made from flowers, fruits, spices, herbs, leaves of plants, etc. Some teas contain caffeine, and others don’t.
Polyphenols, Oxidative Stress, and Free Radicals
One of the benefits of tea is it has reducing agents called Polyphenols also called flavonoids. Polyphenols combined with vitamin C, vitamin E and carotenoids are referred to as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the tissues in the body from oxidative stress such as inflammation, cancer, coronary heart disease, etc.
Oxidative stress is caused by a imbalance between the production and overload of reactive oxygen species (ROS), or free radicals, which is a unstable molecule that contains oxygen and reacts with other molecules in a cell. A build up of these ROS can damage DNA, proteins, and cell death. Free radicals work by altering DNA, and increasing LDL cholesterol as a result. Did you know that your DNA can affect your offspring?
Basically if you eat crap, your offspring may have “weak genetics” as a result because of this very reason: free radicals as one of the several reasons.
How do you get rid of free radical build up in the body? – having a antioxidant rich diet. Hence the name, Anti – Oxidant.
Food with major source of free radical (aka to avoid):
- Processed meats: preservatives in sausage, bacon, salami
- Alcohol: alcohol produces free radicals
- High GI Foods: refined sugar,
- Other sources: chemicals, smoking, drugs, pollutants
Food sources rich in antioxidants:
- Green Tea: rich source in epigallocatechin-3 gallate
- Black tea: rich in theaflavins
- Fruit: cranberries, blueberries
- Nuts: walnuts contain double the amount of antioxidant
- Vegetables: purple, green, yellow colored veggies. Spinach, tomatoes, sweet potato
- Legumes: black beans, kidney beans
- Herbs: turmeric, ginger, rosemary, grape seed extract, gingko
- Cocoa
- Indian Diet: garlic, onion, mustard, turmeric, mustard, clove, cinnamon, curry, fenugreek, chilies
Decaffeinated Tea
Caffeine is classified as a stimulant and has the power to alter your nervous system, and heart rate. If you are already prone to being a highly anxious person it is probably wise to consider caffeine free; however, after reviewing the process of caffeine elimination it may be OK to consume with tea with caffeine.
Fun tip: to decaffeinate tea you can go about it in 2 ways:
1. Using a chemical solvent, ethyl acetate or methylene chloride, which removes most of the teas’ polyphenols
2. Through a process called effervescence which uses water and carbon dioxide, which retains the majority of polyphenols
Both methods work with the use of chemical or gas onto tea leaves. When the leaves are dried the caffeine evaporates
There are herbal teas that are naturally caffeine free including:
- Chamomile
- Vanilla
- Peppermint
- Ginger
- Turmeric: (I get the turmeric root, and boil it with chamomile, and ginger)
Shopping for Teas
If you know me from my YouTube videos you’d know that I look for the best deals with food without sacrificing quality. When shopping for teas I typically look at the source. Some tea are made in china, which I typically try to stay away. I prefer to get tea made in south America, turkey, India, Greece, etc. Teas made in America made have bought the sources from China so I wouldn’t trust it.
Or what I would do is simply get the fresh fruits, and spices and boil it:
- Cinnamon tea: boil cinnamon sticks, and cloves
- Turmeric tea: boil turmeric root, and stevia
- Ginger tea: boil ginger (shave the ginger first), and add mint for a spicy mix
- Ashwaganda tea: boil Ashwaganda
- Tea from South America:
o Manzanilla (chamomile tea)
o Mate de Coca
o Hierba de Luisa (grass tea)
That’s all I got for now be sure to check the price on the tea sources you get, and not overpay! You can reuse tea bags sometimes up to 10 times so don’t throw it away after the first use (you can make kombucha out of black tea, or make tea flavored chicken, or put it In soup).
Be well,
Yelena
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