Tea

From a Tetley green tea drinker, with lemon and honey, I am metamorphosing into a regular Indian tea enthusiast. I am neither a city lover nor someone who enjoys a cup of tea during conversations – my tea walk is just to engage my senses.

For one of those who had not yet embraced the tea-drinking habit, I guess it’s not too late for me to start brewing a batch! Since ancient times, tea has been touted to help with everything from headaches to depression. Like coffee, tea isn’t harmful for health. Tea contains a small amount of natural fluoride, a chemical that can help prevent tooth decay.

Green tea has increasingly become a very popular drink with me because of its immensely powerful health benefits. Tea has a unique set of natural chemicals that provide various therapeutic benefits. Tea is by far the most potent health drink ever – it fights heart diseases, cancer, and even overweight. For centuries, tea has been used in alternative medicine to treat everything from cancer to constipation. Well, so a good cup of tea (made by me) not only tastes great and soothes my soul but is also very good for me.

As tea is the most commonly consumed beverage in the world, I always thought I would become “common” if I drank tea. But I am wrong. Now I know why people like drinking tea. I had always been latte-obsessed but tea is gaining ground in my life as I am learning more about its benefits.

But well this is a shocker. Health experts say that if you are drinking tea for health reasons, tea without milk is a better choice. So, are we Indians drinking eat the wrong way all these centuries? Everyone knows that drinking tea can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke but according to German scientists (something not everyone knows) only if milk is not added to the brew. Yet another research says that adding milk to a cup of tea can destroy its ability to protect against heart disease. Drinking tea could help you lose weight, new research has found – but the effects are cancelled out if you add milk.

So now I am really confused. Should I be listening to the scientists who say that tea is better when we take it purely without any sugar and milk as it serves as a good vasodilator to clear the channels of the heart? Hmm, though by embracing this tea-drinking habit, I join two billion tea drinkers in the world, I really don’t know which kind of tea will be beneficial for me. Nevertheless, welcome to the land of the tea drinkers!!!

PS: Just found out that according to a new research, a lifetime of tea drinking can significantly reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in later life.