The Miraculous Powers of Green Tea

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My first experience with green tea was about 25 years ago. My husband and I had volunteered to host two high school exchange students from Japan for three weeks one summer. Our children were in elementary school and we thought it would be a great learning experience for them.

After they had been with us for a few days, one of the boys, Yukichi, brought out a beautiful tea set and told us that he wanted to do a traditional Japanese ceremony with us. He put four pillows on the floor and had me and my husband sit down. He and the other student, Kazuhiro, also sat down on the pillows. Yukichi told us that our children were too young but they could watch. He said that this was a very serious ceremony.

He took out the directions that his mother had written for him and began carefully putting a green powder into the pot and adding the hot water. He poured some of the brew into a cup and ceremoniously turned the cup in his hand and passed it around the circle having us do the same. Then with a very solemn look on his face, he put the cup to his lips and took a sip. His eyes bugged out and his tongue thrust out of his mouth and he made a loud “UGH!” We laughed so hard we were all lying on the floor. He didn’t know what he did wrong, but it definitely didn’t taste like his mom’s green tea!

I stayed away from this strange colored tea for the next 20 years. That is about the time that its nutritional benefits began to be touted by health experts. I decided to give it a try and found that it is really a very pleasant tasting drink.  Its health benefit claims couldn’t be ignored, either.

I discovered that fresh brewed, green tea is one of the easiest ways to deliver energy and health to your body. Green tea has so many health benefits it would be hard to discuss them all here. I will very briefly explain some of them and then refer you to some great books that go into more detail and have tasty recipes too!

Once you see the many different areas of the body that green tea effects, you will want to begin incorporating this liquid health into your daily diet.

While on the topic of diet, if you are trying to lose weight, it is good to know that green tea actually speeds up the metabolism. And you know what that means…the higher the metabolism, the more calories you burn. Isn’t this a rediculously easy way to help you attain your weight loss goals?

Green tea also has high levels of polyphenols like you find in wine and berry juices which are proven to boost the immune system. Some say they slow the aging process. Who doesn’t want to discover the fountain of youth?

For anyone who is pre-diabetic, diabetic, or who’s family has a history of diabetes, green tea helps lower blood sugar. How’s that for a pleasant way to help keep those numbers down?

Green tea also has been shown to lower blood pressure and helps stop the formation of blood clots. Anyone want to join me in trying something this simple to help prevent the possibility of stroke?

The antibacterial and antiviral properties of green tea help speed up recovery of colds and flu, and have been shown to kill seven different strains of food poisoning bacteria. I think I will order green tea with every meal I eat at a restaurant in the future. You know, you can’t be too careful.

It also kills the bacteria that forms plaque and that causes bad breath. Sounds like a great tasting mouthwash to me. Move over Listerine!

Lastly, green tea detoxifies the liver. Did you know that by the time you are 40 your liver is getting clogged with toxins? Our bodies are so bombarded with environmental poisons these days that it is beyond wise to do anything you can to help strengthen this vital organ.

Here are some great books to check out for more information on green tea:

The Green Tea Book
Green Tea: 50 Hot Drinks, Cool Quenchers, and Sweet and Savory Treats
Lose Weight with Green Tea: A Safe Weight-Loss Method That Works

♥ 3 REASONS TO LOSE WEIGHT NOW ♥

“My doctor says I’m obese and need to lose weight, but I can’t stay away from chocolate!” If this sounds like you, then continue reading to find out why eating chocolate will not be an issue for you any more . 

You probably know already that obesity is the second leading cause of death only following smoking. It is associated with increased mortality rates of all ages--that includes children!

You may be confused by the terms “obesity” and “overweight”. They are often used interchangeably. However, being overweight technically means an excess of body mass including all the body tissues not just fat tissue. Obesity on the other hand refers explicitly to excess body fat. Therefore, a professional heavy weight body builder is overweight because of excess muscles but is not obese.

Obesity is what should concern you. There are many very good reasons to get rid of excess fat in your body. Here are the top three.

REASON # 1 - DIABETES
Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., as well as the leading cause of adult blindness in the world. 80 -90% of type-two-diabetes patients are obese, in fact, their diabetes and their excess weight are directly linked. One of the most common causes of obesity is eating the wrong foods. Some of these wrong foods include high glycemic foods. High glycemic foods are energy dense foods that quickly increase the level of blood glucose in your body. Type-two diabetes occurs because the body cannot produce enough insulin to remove the excess blood glucose and stores it as body fat.
 
Reason #2 - STROKE


Obesity is associated with arteriosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries throughout your body. This makes the vessels narrow, slowing blood flow and increasing the risk of blood clotting. Essential arteries that may be at risk include those supplying blood to the brain. If clotting occurs here due to a narrowed artery, it blocks blood supply to the brain resulting in stroke. Losing weight will dramatically reduces the risk of stroke.


Reason #3 - CANCER

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 25% - 33% of the cancer world wide is related to being overweight and physically inactive. Body fat promotes higher levels of insulin production and excess estrogen, a hormone. Both insulin and estrogen accelerate cell division. This is probably for the purpose of creating adipose tissue, new fat cells to store fat, in addition to the regular cell division.

Research has indicated, the faster cells duplicate the more they increase chances of cancer cells developing. In addition fat cells tend to retain carcinogens, cancer-causing agents, trapped in the body which increases our chances of developing cancer. Being overweight puts you at risk of cancers of the breast, colon, rectum, prostate uterus, esophagus, and kidney.

Hopefully this has scared you enough to make you serious about losing weight. If the first sentence in this article describes you--you are a lover of chocolate--then you must click on this link and read about the amazing and simple recipe for making chocolate that will actually make you lose weight. Instead of trying to eliminate the food you crave, turn it into the very thing that gets you on the road to your weight loss goal!

♥ I LOVE MY CHOCOLATE! ♥

What's So Great About Reading Classic Books?

Have you ever wanted to go back in time? Books...the great Classics...will send you there. 

Would you really like to experience what it was like to live during the time of King Arthur, or the early American settlers, or Jesus? Well, the best way to feel like you’ve “been there” is to read the very words penned by those who were. Reading Classic books takes you on a time machine adventure that you will want to go back to over and over.

First of all… the Classics are just plain fun to read. They are entertaining. It may take a little effort to get used to the way people talked in a different era, but it is worth it. Once you get accustomed to it, you will find that these books have lasted the test of time because they are very entertaining! 

Besides just being fun, there are many other benefits that you will reap from spending time with these wonderful books. 

You will increase your vocabulary. That is definitely something to aspire to. Our understanding of the meaning of words has diminished to an all time low. Because our society is getting farther and farther away from reading as entertainment, and more and more into electronic media, we have lost the richness of our language and are in danger of losing the wonderful stories of our heritage. Reading the Classics is the easiest and most entertaining way of increasing your understanding of more and more words.

You will also gain a broader perspective of life when dipping into the pool of the Classics. Albert Einstein put it like this: 

“Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best the books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely nearsighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people is even in the best case rather paltry and monotonous.

There are only a few enlightened people with a lucid mind and style and with good taste within a century. What has been preserved of their work belongs among the most precious possessions of mankind.

Nothing is more needed than to overcome the modernist’s snobbishness.”

Lastly, you will stop sounding like everyone else. You will have something different to say than all the other people you hear on T.V., or read on the internet. You will stand out in the crowd and begin to sound very “cutting edge”, when really you are only quoting the great writers who have stood the test and been preserved through the decades. Be the one to re-introduce them back into your circle of influence.

You can see some of my favorite Classic books at the top of this home page. Pick one and start opening your world to hours of  imagination stimulation and mind expanding fun!