Green tea’s claims of extraordinary health benefits often sound miraculous, and it is easy to assume that they are exaggerated or even completely made up, but since scientists have begun testing out some of these claims they have been finding more and more evidence that there is something really beneficial in green tea. One stunning report from a British lab claims that it may even be able to prevent the plaques and deposits that cause Alzheimer’s disease from forming in the brain.

Green tea also has some more mundane benefits, but which nevertheless could make it a worthwhile addition to your life. It contains a chemical called L-theanine, for example, which is reported to boost your immune system and help you ward off viral infections. You can even get the same effect just by gargling with green tea.

If you are trying to lose some weight then green tea could be of help. It has been proven to increase the metabolic rate, making you use up more calories, and also to help oxidize and get rid of fat. Unlike many diet supplements, green tea will not make your heart beat faster, so it will not have the same detrimental effects on your heart. Green tea is a natural way of increasing the amount of energy you use which alongside healthy eating and exercise can help you to lose any excess weight.

Green tea can easily be fitted into your everyday life, perhaps instead of your usual cup of black tea or coffee. If you are not keen on the taste of green tea you can still benefit from its healthy properties by taking it in the flavorless form of pills or capsules. Many different brands are available. They are usually recommended to be taken up to two or three times a day.

As the scientific evidence for the benefits of green tea accumulates, adding to the traditional belief in its medicinal properties, green tea becomes an increasingly desirable addition to a healthy lifestyle, whether you are interested in its preventative properties or are looking for some shorter term benefits as you embark on a new diet.

The idea behind green tea mints is that the health benefits of green tea should be made readily available to everyone- including those who may not enjoy or want to drink green tea itself.

It is the antioxidants in green tea that are believed to be responsible for its healthy effects. Antioxidants have been demonstrated to protect the body against many harmful effects, and it is known that green tea has a very high antioxidant content. People who have high levels of antioxidants in their diet appear to have reduced rates of a number of serious conditions such as arthritis, heart disease and even cancer. There is also believed to be a beneficial effect on the immune system, and on the level of cholesterol in the blood.

There is a high demand for green tea products from the health conscious consumer. Taking green tea in the form of a mint is a simple and tasty way to make sure you are getting your daily “dose” of green tea antioxidants. Some brands are even sugar free and produced through Fair Trade.

Green tea mints come in smart little tins that slip easily into any pocket or handbag. This means that you can keep your mints with you when you are traveling or when you go to work, so that you can have one whenever you feel like it, and make sure that you get some of those antioxidants whatever you are up to. This is much more convenient than drinking green tea. These compact tins are also incredibly stylish, and can be re-used to hold any number of little objects once all the mints are gone, for example paperclips or hair pins.

As well as the pure taste of green tea in mint form, you can choose from a range of other flavors that are ideal if you are not a big fan of green tea itself but would like to get some of the health benefits of it. Some of the most popular options are tangy lemongrass and fruity pear flavored green tea mints.

Tiny, tasty little green tea mints are both a delicious, guilt-free snack and a great way of getting the health benefits of green tea.

Do you greet the morning with a steaming cup of coffee? If so you’re probably aware what it is in your coffee that wakes you up so well, but have you ever considered what that caffeine is really doing to you? Black tea has a similar effect on the body, but at a much lower intensity that makes it a much healthier option for your breakfast or work-break boost.

The stimulating effect of tea was only discovered after caffeine was already known to affect coffee drinkers, and at first they were thought to be two different substances. During the 19th century the caffeine in tea was known as “theine”. Once it became clear that the coffee-like effects of tea were in fact down to exactly the same chemical, this term was replaced by the familiar name “caffeine” which was already in use for the substance in coffee.

Caffeine stimulates us, making us more alert and giving us quicker reaction times. It can also aids in concentration. This is thought to be a result of its action on the levels of oxygen circulating in our bodies. Reactions in our respiratory system and our cardiac system cause an increase in oxygen. There is also evidence of further beneficial effects on the metabolism and digestive system, and it may even reduce the chances of developing cardiac disease.

Despite these potential benefits to our health and performance, experts warn that too much of a good thing can be harmful. If you take in extremely high amounts of caffeine it can cause you to suffer palpitations and become short of breath. There is also the more familiar side effect of insomnia. Some people drink tea or coffee to help them stay awake, but if large amounts are consumed too often it can result in difficulty sleeping even when you want to rest.

One way to ensure that you get the benefits of caffeine without overindulging is to drink tea rather than coffee. The caffeine levels in tea are naturally lower. Each cup of tea contains about half the caffeine that you would get from coffee. This means that if you like to have something hot to drink several times throughout the day you can significantly reduce the amount of caffeine you consume.

Different types of tea will contain different amounts of caffeine. This will depend on factors such as the part of the plant from which the leaves were collected, as well as the exact variety of plant which is cultivated. Older leaves from the base of the plant tend to have built up higher levels of chemicals than the new growth at the top. Harvesting methods and the way you make your tea can have an impact on caffeine levels too. The longer you leave the leaves in to brew, the more caffeine will be in the tea you drink.

Black tea is completely oxidized during processing of the leaves. This is what gives it such a strong taste, but it also means that a high proportion of caffeine is retained, making this the most caffeine rich type of tea you can drink. It still contains much less caffeine than coffee, though!

Some times called Tisanes, Chinese herbal tea is technically not really tea at all! They are actually infusions that have been created with herbs. Teas are typically made with the wonderful Camelia Sinensis herb. Extracting the essences of the herbs can be done by steeping it with hot water.

Traditionally, Chinese herbal tea is used for the medicinal and healing properties. Of course, there are many such teas that are simply enjoyed due to their flavors! China has always been known for its production of medicinal herbs. Which is a of the reason that herbals teas have increased in their popularity.

The Benefits in Chinese Herbal Tea.

They are a caffeine free method to get all of the benefits that the Chinese herbal teas have to offer. On top of that many of the teas have comforting and soothing effects. A couple of the most popular herbal teas are Chrysanthemum and Rosebud.

In China, both Chrysanthemum and Rosebud teas are thought of as woman’s herb. However, they are a useful digestive aid. Every person who enjoys teas will love the fresh and floral flavors of this rosebud tea! Chrysanthemum tea is well known and has been used for a long time to aid in cooling your body and reduction in fevers and a very unique flavor.

As there is no caffeine at all, Chinese herbal tea is wonderful to have before bed time or during other times when you should avoid caffeine.

The Fantastic Floral Herbal Teas!

Flower teas are some of the most popular of the Chinese herbal tea. Like most herbal teas, these are great caffeine free teas that have many different benefits! Most of the teas have a number of different flavors and are some of the easiest ways to calm and sooth your body.

In no particular order, these are some of the most popular teas:

Wild New York Ginseng — This is for those that really value the untamed growing conditions that the roots ripen in. This is yet another of the well recognized Chinese herbal teas. It’s said that each individual root develops an appearance and personality all of its own due to the rugged conditions that it grows in. The size and the age can greatly vary, and some of these very wild roots start out small, while some of the larger roots may be younger than the small ones. These roots can live for well over seven years.

Carnation Flower — This tea that is brewed from the beautiful red flowers is known to help re-establish the energies of your body. Also, its extensively used for relaxing.

Yunnan Flower Bud — This Chinese herbal tea grows, in the old forests of Yunnan, as its name implies. This very rare flower is typically a local Yunnan drink.

Chrysanthemum Herbal — This delisious tea contains a very gentile sweetness as well as being thought of as being extremely refreshing. Amongst the many well known cooling infusions of tea this is a good choice.

Kuding Pearl — The leaves of this variety of tea are rolled to form big pieces, which is just a reason for its name of “one leafed tea”. Another reason it’s been named “one leafed” is due to of the idea that only single leaf of the tea is desired to aid in healing a great number of ailments.

Forget Me Not Flower — This creates a mildly grassy flavored tea. Known to help with your lungs. It’s well known for its wonderful purple flowers.

Jasmine Bud Flower — This Chinese blend of herbal tea, it’s created entirely of the small yet beautiful Jasmine flowers that are yet to bloom.

Gongju Herbal — The Gongju flower is well known for its relaxing and soothing qualities and brews a smooth and nice tasting herbal tea.

Baojianmei Jianfei Cha, otherwise known as bojenmi Chinese tea is an increasingly popular tea for weight loss. It has been in use for this purpose for the last 20 years.

In Chinese, the word “bojenmi” means slim, and beautiful. Bojenmi tea is processed and packaged by the Egret River Brand. The parent company of this brand is the Xiamen Export Corporation (XMEHECO). The company is located in Xiamen. Xiamen is an island of the Fujian province.

About Bojenmi Tea

The bojenmi tea is typically made into loose tea and tea bags. There are many different ingredients in bojenmi tea other than the tea leaf, including crataegus, malt, pharbitis, pogostemon, hoelen, citrus chenpi, alisma, cassia, phaseolus, shen-chu, and raphanus. Each of these ingredients and herbs are added to increase digestion of the tea. They are also added to prevent accumulations of phlegm, to prevent food stagnation, and impart a subtle laxative effect. These ingredients have been in use by Chinese doctors to increase weight loss and reduce the level of one’s blood lipids. Other than these additional ingredients the main component of this tea is the leaf itself, coming from a bush in the Fujian province. The tea leaf is sprayed with the additional ingredients during processing, so that when the tea is steeped in water for three to four minutes, they will be extracted along with the tea itself.

The main health benefit of the tea leaf is the drop in one’s blood lipid levels, however, the other additional herbs and ingredients have significant benefit on one’s digestion. It has also been noted that herbs and plants such as the holen mushroom, phaseolus, alisma, citrus peel, and pogotemon impart the benefits of relieving excess fluid in the body.

Cassia and pharbitis will produce a laxative effect. Cassia, crataegus, and alisma also reduce blood lipid levels. Some of the ingredients in bojenmi tea have been shown to increase bowel function, as well as lessening abdominal distention, acid reflux, gurgling, and cramping.

Finding the right dosage

It is recommended that one takes 3 to 6 grams of the tea three times daily. That equates to between 9 and 18 grams a day. One bag of the Egret River brand bojenmi tea contains three grams. What is quite intriguing in fact is that the package states that even without adding the tea to a low calorie diet, one can still lose extra weight with the tea as compared to not drinking the tea at all. They state, however, that the biggest benefits come from combining the tea with a reduced calorie diet. Bojenmi tea tastes a lot like to black tea. It does, however, have a slight bitter taste. Sweeteners can cover most of that bitter flavor if you do not prefer the taste of the tea by itself.

Triple Leaf is a brand of Chinese diet teas. This brand of tea can be found in many health food stores and other types of outlets, as it is becoming more and more widely distributed. Many people say that this brand is one of the best. There are three popular teas made by Triple Leaf.

Triple Leaf’s Background

Triple Leaf is a Chinese-American family owned company. With the help of Chinese herbalists, Triple Leaf blends their teas using a combination of ancient herbal formulas. They are said to be the creators of many delicious teas with medicinal properties that meet today’s diet needs. You can find many well known ancient Chinese herbs in use in Triple Leaf’s teas.

Triple Leaf’s Chinese Dieters’ Teas

The three most popular of the Triple Leaf Chinese Dieters’ Teas are the Green Herbal Tea, the Super Slimming Tea, and the Ultra Slim.

Dieter’s Green Herbal Tea – this is perhaps the most popular on the market today. This tea is meant to promote cleansing as well as promote digestion. This tea is said to be a great supplement to a detox tea diet when wishing to cleanse and detoxify the body.

Super Slimming Tea – This tasty tea combines licorice root, and orange peel with a powerful blend of Chinese herbs, which have been said to help promote detoxification of the body. This tea helps in cleansing as well as promoting healthy digestion, and the combination of ingredients gives it a very robust flavor.

Ultra Slim – this one is similar to the teas above, but also combines herbs to help move stagnant “Chi” or energy. It is said to relieve indigestion and bloating. In addition to these benefits, Ultra Slim has also been said to promote balance and harmony in one’s bodily systems. This tea is also an excellent supplement to a detoxifying tea.

Even with all these great benefits of green tea, experts recommend following a balanced diet as part of one’s weight loss strategy. You should consult your healthcare professional if you are interested as well. It is always best to consume green teas as part of a healthy meal containing fresh fruits and vegetables, juices and pure water. Green tea is not recommended for children, the elderly, or if you are ill, pregnant or nursing.

For many years, Chinese teas were considered excellent supplements for someone who is on a diet. Many companies have produced and distributed them being labeled as Chinese Diet Tea, and marketed them for dieters. The reason that Chinese teas are believed to be beneficial for dieters is because they contain only four calories in each serving, and caffeine has long been thought to increase metabolism. In addition, tea contains products called “polyphenols” which are known to aid in the digestion of fat. These are all compelling reasons to supplement a weight loss diet with Chinese Tea. But are they safe?

There are a lot of names for diet teas. Packaging labels may use such key words such as “fasting”, “slimming”, “super diet”, or “weight loss”. All of them have the same connotations. Drink this tea and you will lose weight. On the question of safety, however, many experts believe that what is actually causing the weight loss, is actually a plant based chemical with laxative effects, which makes you lose “water weight”. It is proven that long term use of laxatives can have negative side effects. Experts note that excessive amounts of “diet teas” can cause things such minor complaints such as and nausea and cramping. However, more serious concerns have been pointed out—vomiting, diarrhea, unrelieved constipation, or even death.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) once expressed that specific ingredients in these teas were actually the culprits of the negative health effects. These ingredients are aloe, senna, rhubarb root, buckthorn, castor oil, and cascara. These are all natural products that have been used for hundreds of years to relieve bloating, constipation, and to promote bowel movements. However, they are deemed effective for these purposes only when used occasionally.

We must point out, that many people believe that excessive use of “Chinese Diet Teas” will prevent the absorption of nutrients from one’s food. Many studies have shown, however, that the laxative inducing diarrhea actually happens in the colon, or at the end of the bowels. The absorption of calories actually occurs prior to reaching the colon in the small intestine.

When diet teas are overused, however, you can develop some short term as well as long term negative effects. Studies have shown that beginner diet tea drinkers, who steep the tea longer than the recommended time or drink more than the recommended amount, can develop stomach cramps, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. These may even last for several days.

When these laxatives are used continually, it is possible to develop a dependency on them. You may even develop more events of chronic diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and constipation. In the most severe cases, excessive use of laxatives will cause fainting, dehydration and serious electrolyte disorders. Although these effects can be quite dangerous, it must be noted that these negative effects generally only affect those that are already nutritionally compromised due to excessive dieting.

Due to these many possible negative side effects of using diet teas, the FDA is considering requiring manufacturers print warning labels on their products stating it will produce laxative effects. Those who are considering drinking Chinese diet teas must pay careful attention to the recommended use and preparation steps. Also, one should pay special attention to any warning statements on the box.

Chinese tea has long been considered an excellent diet aide. Many dieters consider a cup of diet tea standard with every meal. They believe it stimulates metabolism. Tea is low in calories, and is healthy when drunk with no added sugar or other ingredients.

Some expert scientists believe that the caffeine in tea is what increases body functionality and helps to burn extra calories. Tea does contain healthy polyphenols which have been noted as fat-burning substances. For this reason, Chinese teas have widely become known for their weight loss effects.

Although most types of Chinese tea are great for losing weight, two in particular are excellent. These are Pu-erh, and Oolong. These two are probably the best known Chinese teas for weight loss.

Pu-erh Tea

Pu-erh Tea is gaining popularity in Western culture. Green tea has been the most popular tea lately, but pu-erh is quickly gaining on it. The Chinese have long thought of Pu-erh tea as a tea with medicinal properties.

Pu-erh varietals have been known since ancient times. One is even said to be more than 2, 00 years old. Pu-erh comes from a small leaf tea bush. The leaves on this ancient variety are processed in a different manner than one would process green tea. They need to be oxidized, similarly to how the leaves on the oolong bush are processed. The leaves are removed from the bush, and either dried loose or compressed. The leave can be compressed into what is called “bricks, “tea cakes” or “Tuochas”. Tuochas are so named because they look like little birds nests. This can be a sign of beauty for some Chinese tea drinkers. Tea cakes can be aged in dark places such as caves to strengthen their natural earthy flavors.

Pu-erh tea has some benefits that is greatly known for. These are decreasing blood cholesterol and improving the metabolism of fat. This tea can also be “double fermented” in order to enhance some of its special enzymes and microbes. This is done to increase is content of these ingredients known to be essential for one’s well-being.

In addition to these benefits, one cup of Pu-erh tea has been shown to stimulate weight loss when drank with every meal. It stimulates one’s metabolism and aides one’s body systems.

Oolong Tea

Oolong tea is another well-known semi-fermented or oxidized tea. It has a lovely flowery note and intense characteristics. Different varieties of Oolong can range in color from bright to dark. When it is fully-dried, the traditional rich flavors known for weight loss are locked in. This unique drying process will enable the stimulant qualities to come through, which are good for weight loss when added to a well-balanced diet.

Both Pu-erh and Oolong teas are becoming more widely available as they become more well-known for their weight loss qualities. One should be able to find both varieties more and more as they increase in popularity.