The many health benefits of teas and tisanes.

Thanks to science we learn more and more about the many health benefits of various plants that grow on our planet Earth. It makes you wonder that nature has been looking after us all along and we just didn't see it or is it that we forgot and ignored all the knowledge that had been discovered over thousands of years!? Here are just a few of the latest great findings in regards to tea and tisanes:

The World Tea News just reported this month that Hibiscus was not only named the beverage flavour of the year it is now benefiting from research demonstrating cardiovascular advantages.

The journal Nutrients recently published results of a study by British and Nigerian scientists showing a significant increase in the brachial artery’s ability to carry blood throughout the body following a fatty meal at which subjects drank a hibiscus beverage. Blood flow increased due to widening of the artery. The hibiscus did not appear to change systolic or diastolic blood pressure. Consumption of the anthocyanin-rich hibiscus showed effects like blueberries (which are also rich in anthocyanins).  (You can read the complete article here)

 Another very interesting report that was published at The World Tea News site was about Matcha which is since more than 14 years my preferred daily health drink due to it's very high in antioxidants. The newest findings are that green tea prevents cancer cells from 'refueling'.

Scientists in Salford, UK have shed a ray of light on the claim by testing it on cancer stem cells – with surprising results.

In research published in the journal Aging, a team from the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Salford, used metabolic phenotyping on cell lines of breast cancer stem cells and found that Matcha “shifted cancer cells towards a quiescent metabolic state” and stopped their spread at a relatively low concentration (0.2 mg/ml). (click to read more)

In 2007 an article was published about the findings from the Purdue University associate professor of food science Mario Ferruzzi, that your body can only absorb the full antioxidants if you add some vitamin C to it – lemon had the most profound result followed by orange, lime and grapefruit juice. I don’t think I learned about these findings until 3 years later. I could not believe that I was drinking all these years every day Matcha without getting the full benefits of it. Rest assured that since then I faithfully add fresh squeezed lemon juice to my Matcha!

Let's drink tea and stay healthy!