DR. TEA'S MAILBAG
Your questions answered by Dr. Tea himself! Contact Dr. Tea at DrTea@teagarden.com.
ADVICE From: Julie W. Wednesday May 12, 2010
I'd love advice on which tea to try-I am a coffee drinker following a friends advice on switching to your teas. I am not a person with a sweet tooth and weight loss is not my priority but I am very active and would love an energy boosting, skin clearing formula. I was also told licorice was good for fighting colds and viruses to which I am susceptible..I've put myself on your mailing list and look forward to trying some of the products I've heard raves about! thank you, julie w. Julie
Welcome to the family.
Tea as a whole will greatly improve your immune system, so cokes should lessen.
I have invented a coffee oolong tea, if removing coffee is troublesome.
The white teas have the highest amounts of antioxidants. White blueberry is our best seller. Take a look and see which is best for you. Follow your own taste, the teas will take care of the rest.
Additionally, our Chinese herbs are great for improving immunity. Take a look, and if you need help let us know.
Love and light FRENCH PRESS From: Drew Monday May 10, 2010
Hi I was wondering what you thought are on using a french press. I have a travel mug/french press and I was wondering is it good to leave the tea in there. Does it make it too bitter after a while? Can you still reuse the tea? Is it better to use another pot or infuser for the tea?
Thanks
Drew Drew
I love using a French press for tea. The only issue to keep note of, is that unlike coffee where you want to get last oil and flavor out of the press, with tea you never touch the leaves. This way you can resteep the leaves and not create a bitter taste by pressing out all of the tea oils.
Let me know how it goes!
Love and light CATECHIN-ENRICHED TEA From: Paul S Sunday May 9, 2010
Dear Dr Tea.
I read a recent article that men and women in Japan with abdominal obesity who drand catechin-enriched tea over time reduced there waist size as well as overall weight compared to those that did not have the hot drink. Do you have any knowledger of this and if it is effective, do you have a catechin-enriched green tea?
Sincerely,
Paul S Paul
Nice to hear from you. My book, the ultimate tea diet explains all of the science behind teas ability to reduce weight and inches. In my control group study, the average weight loss was 18 pounds 14 inches.
All teas have catechins. So it does not matter which tea you drink, as long as you are getting 6 to 8 cups. In japan they produce mainly green tea so that is what they drink. Take a look at my website for some delicious varieties. Www.ultimateteadiet.com
Love and light
Mark Ukra TANNINS From: Katherine Saturday May 1, 2010
Hi Doc,
I noticed in your mailbag that you said you didn't know of any health benefits from tannins. I know of one health benefit that tannins have. They help regulate digestion, from what my friend who's really into herbs and homeopathics tells me. And I've found this to be true. When I'm having an IBS attack, a cup of overbrewed black tea does wonders for me. I let it steep for about 10 minutes to get as many of the tannins out as possible, and it really helps my intestinal cramping etc.
Plus, tannins have benefits in personal care: soaking your feet in overbrewed black tea (the cheaper the better...the lower quality black tea has more tannins) will reduce foot odor.
Happy tea-ing and God bless!
-Katherine ORGANIC From: NP Tuesday April 27, 2010
hello i read because of many tea plantions now use pesticides in tea plants if its not organic it might be harmful to drink matcha since your consuming all of leaf.although i beleive there is benefit from consuming whole leaf .do you have any info on that thank you Great to hear from you again.
Yes always buy organic as much as possible. This goes for match a or even the inexpensive tea bags.
As to tannins, they are mostly released in the first two steeps. They add a lot of the flavor to the liquid, but no real health benefits, that I am aware of.
I am pleased to read you enjoyed the book, and am so delighted you are enjoying your teas.
Stay in touch.
Love and light
Mark Ukra SWISS NATURAL GREEN TEA From: Chidinma E. Sunday April 11, 2010
Hello again, Dr. Tea. I trust you've been doing well. I have another tea I'd like you to verify. My mom recently bought Swiss Natural Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey. The ingredients are: Water, sugar, instant green tea, maltodextrin, citric acid, instant tea, cornstarch-modified, natural flavors, ginseng extract, and honey. I'm pretty sure that most of the same ingredients are in real tea, but the one that caught my attention was "instant green tea". Is there really such a thing? If so, how is it made? And, of course, my original question? Is this a real tea? Chidinma:
Great to hear from you again.
I am surprised to see a tea product without tea mentioned as the first ingredient. As it falls behind water and sugar it would not be a product for me.
Having said that, my palate is not the same as anyone elseās and it could very well be a fine drink.
Now is it tea, it may be. That depends on how they make the instant teas which are usually brewed and dried. Is it as good as brewed tea, I would say NO! Is it as good as taking real tea, brewing it and adding your own honey and ginseng, NO!!!!
I hope this helps!
Much Love & Light,
dr. tea STORING TEA From: Nancy Sunday March 28, 2010
Hi Mark,
Really enjoying my order of teas- they're delicious and very fresh tasting- I'm never going back to bags!
I have a question regarding re-steeping leaves as I make large batches for iced tea. What is the proper technique for storing and re-steeping used leaves? How long can they store and how many times can they be re-used?
I also brew my tea in stainless steel pans, is that ok?
Thanks Nancy
PS Dr Oz recently said Turmeric tea is the new health tea Nancy:
Great to hear from you.
You can store your leaves overnight in the fridge and re-use them again the next day and that is all. They start to grow a ānot goodā bacteria.
Using stainless is great!
Tumeric is not a tea at all, but an herb. I know Oz and he should know better. I am not familiar with the health benefits of Tumeric, but it is easily researched if you need the info.
Much Love & Light,
dr. tea INGREDIENTS From: Jen G. Monday March 15, 2010
Hi
Just ordered your sampler and I don't have a list of ingredients? Are there artificial ingredients in the tea? How do I find out what is in the tea's.
Thank you,
Jen G Jen:
Great to hear from you. Everything in our teas is real.
1. Tea
2. fruits
3. chocolates
4. vanilla
5. mint
6. etc.
All less than 5 calories a cup.
Much Love & Light,
dr. tea GROWING TEA From: Vlad D. Monday March 15, 2010
Hi sir Mark doctor tea Ukra I have bought a camellia sinensis plant witch i plan to harvest but the problem is that i must know i what temperature it must be for optimal growth and how much it actually drinks a day. Please sir tell me all you know about the plant! Vlad:
Great to hear from you from Sweden.
Camellia Sinensis is a tough plant but does need plenty of sun and heat some times of the year as well as water. Now something yo may not realize is a new plant needs 5 years of growth before they are suitable for harvesting for tea.
This does not mean you can not try to consume the leaves and see if you like it. Also, before 5 years there are not many leaves yo harvest unless you purchased a large tree.
Stay in touch!
Much Love & Light,
dr. tea GIVING UP COFFEE FOR TEA From: Katherine W Friday March 12, 2010
Hi Doc,
Ever since arriving at college I've been back on the coffee. My caffine addiction has gotten substantially worse since I started school here. I'm still getting enough tea, but I'm finding myself maintaining and occasionally gaining instead of losing weight because of all the sugar and nondairy creamer I use to make the coffee palatable. I've been having a cup of coffee almost every morning to wake me up simply because my body is not used to waking up at six after going to bed at 10ish. If I could program my alarms to go off at that time only when I have early classes I would, but I can't so I've been getting up at 6 on weekdays and between 8 and 9 on the weekends.
So, since I'm only having one serving of coffee daily, how do I slowly replace it with tea? Do I just quit the coffee cold turkey and brew my black tea for the full five minutes in the AM to release all 40-50 mg of caffine? I'm sure I'll be sleepy for the first few weeks, but it'll be worth it to get off the coffee.
-Katherine K
Great to hear from you. I know how you feel.
What is happening is the addition of coffee is raising your insulin and with less exercise and eating right with the grinds of campus life the weight will appear.
So have a few sips to get you going and finish with the strong black tea
This formula will give you coffee's boost and the te will cancel the harmful effect.
Lastly the tea not coffee will stimulate the brain with the l theanine
Stay in touch as always
Doc
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