Sipping in Style: How to Drink Tea Like a Boss

Tea is a staple part of every Brit’s diet, but did you know it’s good for your health, as well as your sense of wellbeing? According to five new studies in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, tea may be able to protect your wellness against stroke and heart disease, decrease your blood pressure, boost your brain power, and help you lose weight. Prediman Krishan Shah, MD, director of the Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, explains, ‘It contains antioxidants, which may help fight free radicals known to contribute to cancer, heart disease, and clogged arteries.’ Moreover, the caffeine content in tea stimulates your nervous system, which, in turn, increases the rate at which your body burns fat. And the amino acid theanine in tea works with the caffeine to influence your brain’s neurotransmitters, leading to increased alertness and mental productivity.

 

If you want the health benefits, but aren’t so big on sipping tea with your pinkie up, we’ve got some awesome recipes from top mixologists, chefs and nutritionists so you can sip in style:

 

1. The Tea-Totaler: For this recipe, courtesy of Bill Anderson, beverage director at Vie in Western Springs, Illinois, you will need:

 

• 1 c chamomile tea, steeped


• 1 c sugar


• 1 c soda water

 

Anderson directs, ‘Dissolve sugar in piping hot tea, and let cool. Fill glasses with ice half way with tea syrup. Top off with soda water. Serves two to four.’

 

 

2. Burn Juice: This recipe, provided by Dawn Jackson Blatner, RDN, CSSD, LDN, serves one. You will need:

 

• 1/4 c brewed green tea, cooled


• 1 roma tomato


• 1 celery stalk


• 1/2 red bell pepper


• Dash of cayenne


• 3 ice cubes

 

‘Combine all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth,’ says Blatner. ‘Not only do you score a metabolism boost from the caffeine-rich tea, but a compound in cayenne pepper called capsaicin helps control hunger and increase fat burn. Plus, this drink has only 35 calories and provides 140% daily vitamin C.’

 

 

3. Tropical Green Tea Smoothie: Blatner notes, ‘The almond milk provides bone-building calcium and immune-boosting vitamin D, while pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme for healthy digestion.’ As with the above recipe, you blend all the following ingredients until smooth:

 

• 8 oz brewed green tea, chilled or room temperature


• 8 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk


• 1/2 c frozen mango chunks


• 1/2 c pineapple chunks


• 1 Tbsp honey

 

 

4. Ginger Green Tea Lemonade: Blatner’s Ginger Green Tea Lemonade recipe is great for digestion, as well as your overall health. You will need:

 

• 1 c brewed green tea, hot


• 1/4 c sliced and coarsely chopped fresh ginger


• 3/4 c lemon juice (about 4 lemons)


• 6 Tbsp agave nectar


• 2 c sparkling water

 

Blatner instructs, ‘Create ginger water by pouring hot tea over chopped ginger and set aside for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour 3/4 cup ginger water into a pitcher; discard remaining liquid and ginger. Add lemon juice, agave, and sparkling water to pitcher. Serve over ice in glasses garnished with lemon slices. Serves six.’

 

 

5. Crimson Toddy: This recipe comes from Chris Cason, Tea Sommelier and Co-Founder of Tavalon Tea. You will need:

 

• 4 oz boiling water


• 1 tsp Crimson Punch tea (or any citrus and sweet tea blend)


• 2 oz bourbon


• 1 Tbsp agave nectar


• 1 orange slice


• 10 whole cloves


• Cinnamon stick

 

Cason details, ‘Steep tea in boiling water for five minutes, then strain into insulated measuring cup or bowl. Cover to keep hot. Press cloves into the orange slice, and then place the slice at the bottom of a glass like a brandy snifter. Pour in bourbon, and then pour in the hot tea. Stir in agave nectar with cinnamon stick. Serves one.’

Categories: agave nectar, Benefits, brewed green, ginger water, green tea, heart disease, hot tea, lemon juice, nbsp nbsp, Recipes, sparkling water, tea

How to Enjoy the Taste of Sugar this Diwali, Minus the Guilt

While Diwali is a time for celebration, stressing about how the festival will have an impact on your diet is enough to wreak havoc on your emotional wellness. Sure you want to join in the festivities, but all that decadent food will add inches to your waistline, not to mention the fact that it’s not-too beneficial for your health. The consumption of sugar alone could ruin all the weight loss progress you’ve made, but at least you have substitutes available. Let’s take a look at the sugar substitutes you can make this Diwali:

 

1. Aspartame: 25 years ago, a revolution came for sweet toothers everywhere; aspartame. This sweetener is often used in soft drinks, due to the fact that it is 200 times sweeter than sugar. However, there is a question of how safe it is for your overall wellbeing, albeit being very beneficial to your diet. Research has shown that drinking diet soft drinks – which contain aspartame – can increase your risk of developing diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Moreover, researchers at the University of Liverpool found that, when mixed with a common food colour ingredient, aspartame actually became toxic to brain cells. Still, the sweetener is yet to be removed from shelves.

 

2. Honey: While honey does technically have twice the amount of calories that you would find in sugar, it’s actually much better for your health. Organic honey is packed with nutrients and antioxidants to help you ward of illnesses, as well as having a low glycaemic index. This means that using honey will not cause your insulin levels to suddenly spike and crash in the same way that sugar does.

 

3. Agave Nectar (Syrup): If you like the benefits of honey but you’re a vegan, you might try agave nectar, which is prepared from a plant source known as Blue Agave. However, while this seems like a good option, and no nasty side effects have been confirmed, many agave nectars consist of 70 to 80% fructose, which is more than you would in high-fructose corn syrup! According to Christine Gerbstadt, MD, PhD, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, the best option is to choose a type of agave that contains no more than 30 to 40% fructose.

 

4. Sucralose: You may be more aware of this sweetener than you think, as it’s marketed as Splenda. Sucralose is processed from sugar itself and is one sweetener which does not seem to have raised any controversy or health warnings by FDA. Your body does not register sucralose as a carbohydrate and the sweetener doesn’t give you any calories from the sugar. However, you might want to pay closer attention to the bulking agents used in Splenda, as some reports state that these can add around 12 calories per tablespoon of the mixture, even though the package does not list these calories. The good thing about sucralose is that it isn’t affected by heat, which means you can use it in baking recipes without worrying too much. Still, the sweetener is known to have an after taste when used in excess, so don’t overdo it.

 

5. Blackstrap Molasses: Last but not least on this list is blackstrap molasses. As with honey, this sweetener is high in calories, and so may not be the best option if you’re trying to lose weight. However, DesiDieter Expert Tina Khanna explains, ‘Although heavy on the calorie content, blackstrap is rich in iron, potassium, and calcium, making it a healthier choice than nutritionally defunct artificial sweeteners or even regular refined sugar.’ This is impressive considering the fact that blackstrap and refined sugar both come from sugar cane.

Categories: agave nectar, blackstrap molasses, calories, Diwali, honey, nbsp, refined sugar, Soft Drinks, substitutes, Sugar, sweetener