My New Love: One More Cup of Tea, Please!

My mom had a cold the week before last . :( I did some herbal remedies research and found interesting facts on chamomile tea. A 2005 study found that chamomile tea helps all kinds of health ailments including, fighting colds and menstrual cramps! After finding this out I told my mom to drink up chamomile tea and to stay away from meat and dairy. 

In return, she advised me to drink Champollion to help me relax and then again another cup 20 minutes before bed for better sleep! 0:-)

Last week I drank chamomile tea every single day and this weekend we bought some more tea bags! 

I also took the time to organize our tea drawer; Take a look at what's inside! :)

I decided to be a regular tea drinker. I want to be more in touch with myself, feel the sensation of sipping warm tea through my lips, into my body and practice being in the moment (2013 Big Goal #5).

When I opened the chamomile tea box I read this on the side flap and loved it! (Now, this is why I shop why I do: I make sure that I vote with my money.) I wish more tea companies out there got rid of the string. They would save so much money themselves and be more environmentally friendly!

So what other teas do I drink?

 
It's been more than 7 months since I had my last cup of coffee on 8/11/2012. I no longer drink it because of the anti-epileptic medication I'm currently taking and because too much caffeine can trigger seizures -- and I can definitely go overboard with the over-sized coffee cups!!!). 

When I first found out from my neurologist and pharmacist that I couldn't drink coffee anymore, I was so bummed. Seriously. I was terribly sad as I walked away from the Kaiser Permenete offices and drove home. I just had to pull over and reflect on the news.... Alone in my car I wondered, "How will I ever function???!!!" 

I hated that hopeless felling and I told myself that it is all a matter of perspective. So I literally straightened my back, smiled and decided to see the positive side to no longer drinking coffee. I've never wanted to be a zombie-face person who says "I need coffee!!!" or "I can't talk to anyone/ start my day before drinking my first up of coffee!" 

So no more stimulants for energy, yay! I made it a goal to to sleep better and function like a conscious human being the next day. When I was a regular coffee drinker I'd brew my own organic coffee because I was tired of wasting money at Starbucks-- who by the way contributed money to the California NO on 37 Campaign (No GMO labeling)!! (Found at almost every corner, Starbucks is putting smaller coffee shops out of business; I've also heard that Starbucks doesn't let their employees unionize.)

I was happy to think I'd be saving money and time (shopping for organic coffee, organic and recycled filters, time brewing it, etc.) Over the course of a year and overall, I'd also save so much water and paper cups (if I didn't already have my own reusable one with me at the moment).

Drinking coffee was not such a big dea, I realized ...because...I could still get caffeine from GREEN TEA! 

 

So now I do still get a little of caffeine and so many antioxidants from green tea! But drinking it every day it became boring sometimes and I found that even just green tea is a stimulant, too....So I did some more research and I met my new friend yerba mate tea :) 

Yerba mate is a tea-like beverage made from leaves and tender stems of a powerful rainforest tree in South America; it was discovered centuries ago by indigenous people.

According to Wikipedia, preliminary studies of the plant have shown that it "is different from other plants containing caffeine, most significantly in its effects on muscle tissue, as opposed to those on the central nervous system, which are similar to those of other natural stimulants." Excellent! :D

 Also....

• Yerba mate "...is native to the subtropical rainforests of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.  Revered as the “drink of the gods” and consumed to ensure health, vitality, and longevity, yerba mate triumphs as nature’s most balanced stimulant."

• "The leaves of the yerba mate tree contain 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, abundant antioxidants and naturally occurring caffeine."

• "Of the six commonly used stimulants in the world:  mate, coffee, tea, kola nut, cocoa, and guarana, yerba mate is the healthiest, delivering both energy and nutrition."  

This Whole Foods Market Yerba mate with green tea and peppermint is really good, I highly recommend it! Retail price is $3.99 (and when on sale it's $2.99) for 40 bags).Try it!

I have 2-4 cups of yerba mate with green tea and peppermint daily! (5 cups of green tea = caffeine in 1 cup of regular coffee). Studies have shown that green tea has so many health properties and it helps prevent the growth of some cancers.

A study freshly published (March 14, 2013) in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, found that "the more green tea a person drank, the more it reduced the risk of suffering a stroke"!  

So keep calm and drink up more herbal and green tea because it helps keep disease at bay! Spread the word to your loved ones, too!

Love, 

Bea

P.S.
By the way, my mom got better quickly! Drinking camomile tea (and "Cold tea" that Bret gave her -- in second picture above), in addition to a healthy diet and exercise she got back up! My mom is a warrior. She is my inspiration.