The steady stream of good news about green tea is getting so hard to ignore that even java junkies are beginning to sip mugs of the deceptively delicate brew. You’d think the daily dose of disease-fighting, inflammation-squelching antioxidants–long linked with heart protection–would be enough incentive, but wait, there’s more! Lots more.
1. CUT YOUR CANCER RISK
Several polyphenols – the potent antioxidants green tea’s famous for – seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body, by discouraging their growth and then squelching the creation of new blood vessels that tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found that people who regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.
2. SOOTHE YOUR SKIN
Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids.
3. PROTECT YOUR SKIN
In the lab, green tea applied directly to the skin (or consumed) helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, which is why you’re seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.
4. STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
Having healthy blood pressure – meaning below 120/80 – is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than non-drinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.
5. PROTECT YOUR MEMORY
Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea’s big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
6. STAY YOUNG
The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your blood vessels, which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your biological age (or Real Age), and saps your energy too. How much green tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a day, which also deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.
7. LOSE WEIGHT
Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea speeds up your body’s calorie-burning process. In the every-little-bit-counts department, this is good news!

A new study shows that elderly women who drank tea had higher bone density in their hips and less bone loss than women who didn’t drink tea. Researches say the results confirm previous studies that have suggested drinking tea may protect against bone loss and osteoporosis.
In the study, Australian researchers surveyed 275 women between the ages of  70 and 85, who were participating in a larger five year study of calcium supplements and osteoporosis, about how much black and green tea (but not herbal teas) they drank. Bone density measurements of the hip were also taken at the beginning and end of five year study.
The bone mineral density in tea drinkers was higher than in non tea drinkers. Tea drinkers also had less loss of bone density over a four year period compared with non tea drinkers. These results took into account factors such as smoking history and use of calcium supplements. The researches did not find a relationship between the number of cups of tea consumed per day and bone mineral density.
Researches say more research is needed to determine how drinking tea affects bone density. Previous studies had suggested that phytochemicals in tea, such as flavonoids, maybe responsible for the protective effect against bone loss due to their estrogen-like properties.

Tea fare can be incorporated with many items. Generally, Afternoon tea involves bite-sized sandwiches, followed by a plethora of sweets, pastries and biscuits. For most afternoon tea ceremonies certain foods became popular during each seasons of the year. Fruit and berries were eaten in spring and summer, while heavier starch items were reserved for the colder months.
Placement of these items is also crucial to the construction of the ceremony. Food is generally placed on a three-tier curate stand, as follows, where scones are placed on the top tier, savories and tea sandwiches are placed in the middle and sweets on the bottom.
The protocol of placing scones on the top-tier is due to the fact that during the 1800’s when Afternoon tea first became popular, and modern kitchen conveniences did not exist, a warming dome was placed over the scones. The dome would only fit on the top tier. The savories and tea sandwiches, followed by the sweets were placed on the middle and bottom tiers respectively. At the progression of each course, service would be provided to remove each tier.
Traditionally, loose tea would be served in a tea pot with milk and sugar. This would be accompanied by various sandwiches (customarily cucumber, egg and cress, fish paste (bloater), ham and smoked salmon), scones (with butter, clotted cream ad jam – see cream tea) and usually cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg, fruit cake or Victoria sponge). The food would be often served in a tiered stand.
While afternoon tea used to be an everyday event, now a days it is more likely to be taken as a treat in a hotel, café or teashop that follows a similar three-tiered menu.

BLACK TEA ICE CREAM
SERVINGS: 4
INGREDIENTS:
½ liter of milk
5 egg yolks
11/4 cups sugar
1 Tbs Assam tea

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Tea has always been my beverage of choice. This is great because by many accounts tea is very healthy, with several compounds in it that are thought to contribute to a healthier if not longer life. If nothing else, it is a tastier way to help you consume that near gallon of water we are supposed to drink daily. Drinking tea is easy, but buying it can be quite confusing. For example, just when I get used to green tea, now I’m told I need to switch to white. What exactly is that orange pekoe anyway? It never tastes like orange to me. Is bagged better than loose? What about those flavored teas and what exactly is an oolong?

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Discussions of food normally were focussed on its nutritional conten and its flavor. Recently, however, more attention is being paid to the role of food in bio-regulating functions. Foods that possess this regulatory function are called “functional food.” Dr. Inaba classifies food by function. If we classify green tea and green tea catechin according to this table, they possess the following functions :

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