A cup of hot chai for good health!

tea1

What is the one solution to all problems? Tea. Long day at work; nothing beats it like a cuttingchai on the way back home. Sick day blues; what better than cozying up on the couch with a good book and a steaming cuppa? Stuck at home while it pours cats and dogs outside? Chai and bhajiyas, isn’t it obvious? As Willian Ewart Gladstone succinctly puts it, ‘If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you.’

After water, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Originating in China, tea has made its way around the world since the 16th century and managed to capture the attention and admiration of doctors and poets alike.

Technically speaking, tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by steeping the leaves of the plant Camellia Sinensis in hot water. It has a slightly bitter and astringent taste with a cooling sensation. There are only four varieties of this plant – Black, White, Green and Oolong. Other adaptations like chamomile and lavender tea are prepared without the use of this particular plant and labeled as Herbal Teas or tisanes.

A beverage loved and appreciated the world over; tea does deliver on the health front in all aspects. Tea contains catechins that have anti-inflammatory and neuro-protective properties. An amino acid, L-theanine known to promote a calm, alert and focused mental state in humans is the reason tea produces a soothing effect on consumption. People with a history of consuming green tea were found to report lower rates and risks of cardiovascular diseases, some forms of cancer, reduction of blood pressure and osteoporosis. Thanks to the ample presence of anti-oxidants, consumption of tea is said to result in improved resistance to bacteria and viruses and fortification of the immune system. Caffeine, quite evidently, improves alertness and stimulates nervous activity….

Click here to read more