’Give me a cup of Tea
The cup that soothes each aching pain
Restores the sick to health again
Steals not from heart, steals not from brain.
.A fragrant cup of Tea.’.
Probably the most ancient, and definitely the most popular, non-intoxicating beverage in the world, tea has a history richer than any other. Tea is the world’s most widely consumed beverage, next to water, with an estimated one billion cups drunk daily.
In countless cultures throughout history, tea has been regarded as a medicinal wonder. Over a thousand years ago Buddhist monks drank tea for religious reasons – to help them stay awake during meditation. (This effect we now know is caused by caffeine; tea has roughly half the caffeine of coffee).
The monks also believed tea had curative powers, and as Buddhism spread, so did tea – and the claims for it. The great 13th-century Japanese Shogun Minamoto Sanetomo lay at death’s door from overfeasting when a monk prescribed a regimen of prayer and tea. When the shogun recovered, that was evidence enough for his countrymen to take up the brew.
Tea has long been recognized as being healthy. In all kinds of ancient essays and literature, and pharmacopoeia, tea has been reported as nutritious and disease presenting a possibly suppressing aging and even promoting longevity with regular drinking.
Tea has practical advantages for everyday life too. When you get tired of working or studying, you can raise your energy with a cup of strong Black tea. When you get drunk, you can have some tea to reduce that tipsy feeling. If you don’t get enough sleep and wake up with black circles around your eyes the next day, you might apply cool tea residue to eyelids to draw out the discoloration.
Other uses of Tea:
Natural Hair Conditioner: Boil water. When the water starts to boil, add tea leaves/bags. Remove from the stove. Strain immediately. This will make a weak infusion of tea. Cool this weak tea. Rinse hair with this mild tea infusion. Leave to dry. Rinse with water. Hair will turn shiny.
Skin Vitalizer: Dab a cold, used tea-bag, on the skin. Leave to dry. With regular use your skin should have a healthy glow.
Getting rid of black rings under your eyes: Place a cold, used tea-bag, on each eye daily. Relax and watch the difference after a few weeks.
Natural agent for aiding in curing Cancer Cardiovascular disease: Scientific discoveries suggest that tea has Flavnoids, an antioxidant that combats free radicals in the body responsible for cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
As a cure for Arthritis: According to the scientists at Case Western University in Cleaveland’Tea contains compounds that may help reduce inflammation and help arthritis. Scientists took two groups of mice and gave them injection of a substance that causes immune reactions similar to those due to rhyumatoid arthritis. One group had regular water to drink and the other got water laced with polyphenols, chemicals found in green tea and, to a lesser extent in black tea. Nearly all the mice that drank regular water got arthritis-like symptoms, compared to less than half of the treated mice.’
Modern research is confirming an ancient proverb:’Drinking tea each day will starve the doctor’. But no research is needed to prove that a soothing cup of tea can lift the spirit.
How much tea do you need to drink to get its health benefits? Studies suggest four or five servings in a day. As a Chinese mystic goes….
’The first cup moistens my lips and throat.
The second shatters my lonliness.
The third causes the wrongs of life to fade gently from my recollection .
The fourth purifies my soul.
The fifth lifts me to the realms of the unwinking gods’.
Yet, things that go to extremes turn into their opposites. Frequent tea drinking can harm your health, so don’t drink too much and don’t make the tea too strong. Bear in mind that drinking tea either; early morning and bedtime are not preferred. Don’t drink tea without eating anything beforehand, or along with tea as your stomach can be harmed as it stimulates the secretion of gastric juices.
One of the shining moments of my day is when I share the morning cup of tea with my wife, what solace in the first cup, what deliberate sipping of that which follows!
What a glow does a cup of tea bring after a walk in chilly rain!
All aspects of tea, from the purchase to the preparation, are serious if one is to experience serious appreciation of it. Tea will give back to you exactly what you give to it(no more, no less)