Good Things - 11/16/09

Green Tea.

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I enjoy a cup of hot green tea. I will confess that despite all the positive properties about green tea, I don't like it cold and I will only drink the hot if it is flavored. But when I start drinking it in the fall and winter, I usually end up drinking at least two huge mugs a day.

Green tea, according to sources, can help with preventing heart disease and certain types of cancers. Although it has not been scientifically proven - yet - I do fall into the camp that also believes that green tea helps with weight management. I have found over the last 3 years that I shed weight easier in the cooler months. This goes a little against conventional wisdom in that we tend to be less active when it's colder and it seems that, like the animals, we tend to add "insulation" in the winter months to protect us from the cold.

There are other reasons that I like hot tea for a healthy lifestyle. First of all, typically when you make a cup of tea you are having to stop what you are doing. You have to heat the water, wait for the tea to steep. I know you can get a cup of tea at Starbucks, but it still doesn't seem quite the same kind of "on-the-go" drink as a cup of coffee. And when you drink it, at least in my case, I'm actually just sipping on it so I'm slowing down. And slowing down can help reduce our stress levels.

And it has been proven that added stress equals added pounds. Certain hormones get released when we get stressed and we add fat.

There are some varieties of tea that help you sleep. A good night's sleep is also an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and a rested person is usually just better all the way around. And I would think that a natural sleep aid would be overall preferable to taking a pill. Call me crazy.

So, put the kettle on, grab a bag and a mug and enjoy a cup, or two, of good hot tea. I think you'll thank yourself later.