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Why Drinking Tea is the Perfect Way to Kick Off 2018

Why Drinking Tea is the Perfect Way to Kick Off 2018

With 2017 in our rear view and 2018 fresh upon us, many of us find ourselves excited to discover what the new year will bring. This is also the time of year where we engage in a lengthy reflection to determine in what ways we can improve our lives and well-being. Though it is usually a challenge to keep, this is the essence of the New Year’s Resolution. So what better way to celebrate than to consider some of the ways in which tea might be able to help you keep your resolution?!

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“Get in Shape”

Having finished a holiday season filled with sweet treats and rich foods, it is not uncommon to feel sluggish. To combat this lethargy, we usually commit to a healthier lifestyle, whether it is the start of an exercise program, a change in diet, or both. The good news is that tea can facilitate this goal!

There have been numerous studies on the relationship between tea and weight loss, and in particular, green tea looks like one of the best candidates. In a meta-analysis performed in 2009 for the International Journal of Obesity, over 49 studies on weight loss and green tea were reviewed. The authors of the study concluded that the catechins in green tea “have a small but positive effect” on weight loss and weight maintenance.

Of course, this does not mean that green tea alone is sufficient for inducing weight loss; instead, it should be considered in conjunction with a healthy diet and vigorous exercise. In fact, when considering the health benefits of green tea in general, it appears to have a lot of similar small but positive effects on a wide range of health parameters — from promoting heart and brain health to liver and blood vessel health. In that sense, it’s not too different from what we would like to see from our multivitamins or other superfoods. This makes green tea our number one choice for keeping this resolution!

“De-stress”

Another common desire one might have after the holiday season is to unwind and seek out some much needed down time. After all, the past two months were spent decorating, cooking, baking, shopping, entertaining, and doing pretty much everything to help make the season special. Why not try to create some mental and spiritual space for the sake of decompressing? 

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The good news is that loose leaf tea can help with precisely this. One of the many benefits of loose leaf tea is that it takes a little longer to prepare than a tea bag. By requiring you to gently measure out your tea leaves, you will discover a fuller sensory experience. This step forces you to notice the color of your leaves, to breathe in their pleasant aromas, and to spend more time waiting for the infusion to finish. These are among the many reasons why tea enthusiasts have fallen in love with gongfu preparation. 

Perhaps unsurprising then is that some studies have even found a correlation between tea consumption and feelings of relaxation. For instance, some researchers found that 6 weeks of tea drinking performed better than a placebo at lowering cortisol (the “stress hormone”) and increasing subjective relaxation, publishing their results in Psychopharmacology. Because they used black tea in this study, we’ll follow suit and recommend black tea for helping to keep this resolution. Besides, what better kind of tea is there to help keep you warm during bitter cold winter days than black tea?

Happy New Year

Of course, no matter how you have resolved to enter into this exciting, new year, we at MeiMei Fine Teas would like to wish you the best. May your year be filled with many blessings and lots of good tea!

 

International Journal of Obesity. “The effects of green tea on weight loss and weight maintenance: a meta-analysis.” <https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2009135> 

Psychopharmacology. “The effects of tea on psychophysiological stress responsivity and post-stress recovery: a randomized double-blind trial.” <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-006-0573-2>

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