Preventing Alzheimers: Researchers Find Tea Surprise
Tea and the Caffeine Myth
Six Body Benefits of Tea
Milk Eliminates Cardiovascular Health Benefits Of Tea, Researchers Warn

Preventing Alzheimers: Researchers Find Tea Surprise As I am a strong believer in quality loose leaf tea, I tend to emphasize potential health benefits of these leaves. While I have found countless bits of evidence hinting at potential benefits, I am also always cautious about stating these things - many other aspects of diet and environment may influence longetivity and health. An interesting bit of research recently surfaced, reported by a team of researches at Newcastle University. Key enzymes in the human brain appear to be affected by both green and black tea, with details of the research being published in Phytotherapy Research. Dr. Ed Okello from the research team has found that drugs specifically desgined to combat Alzheimers disease work in much the same way as tea. The team has not yet been able to uncover which specific properties of the tea which appear to inhibt the activity of AChE (acetylcholinesterase), which has been found to be responsible for reducing acetylcholine in the brain - which has been associated with Alzheimers disease. Research is being done to isolate what properties of the tea have this effect, to help create better drugs to combat the disease in the future. Green tea appears to be more effective than black tea, as it appears to obstruct the activity of a second enzyme, beta-secretase (butyrylcholinesterase), wich is involved in the production of protein deposits in the brain that contribute to Alzheimers disease. Unlike black tea, which shows positive effects only for a day, the enzyme inhibiting effects of green tea last as long as a week. Drugs are currently on the market to reduce the effects of AChE, BuChE, and beta-secratase. Unfortunately these drugs have a long list of potential side effects, require prescriptions, and are generally only taken by those with symptoms of the disease. As with many cases like this, alternative preventative treatments exist in nature, which we often miss by consuming only processed foods. As you have likely gathered from many other articles, I do not believe that tea in bags (tea dust), and many cheap loose leaf harvests offer the full potential benefits of tea. Both taste and health aspects are affected by freshness, processing styles, and many other factors. Buying a box of bags of Lipton tea dust will not provide any antioxidant qualities, as the herbs have long lost their chemical compositions whose benefits you seek. As with almost all consumable products created by nature, many of their qualities are lost as they age on the shelf. Chemical additives and processing further expand the shelf-life and profit opportunity for companies, but add potentially damaging chemicals to the foods you consume. I'm still not a 'health-nut' - you'll find me eating fast food and processed food products on occasion - but keep me away from any tea products whose packaging allows it to be preserved for multiple years, and 'infused' varieties of questionable origin. With a little bit of research and a few extra bucks you are likely to give yourself a more healthy, balanced life, and many more oportunties to enjoy great tea and fun times. – article courtesy of www.Looseleaf.info [Tea & Your Health] See article published by the BBC UK (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3951003.stm). Dr. Okello is a member of the Newcastle University Research Team. Professor Clive Ballard is the research director of the Alzheimer's Society (2006).   Tea and the Caffeine Myth While in Chicago for a long weekend trip, I visited several tea shops - it was nice to see that loose leaf teas are gaining in popularity at least in some parts of the U.S. There's definitely a lot yet to be done in terms of general education about the quality of different leaves - I will write another article about this, hopefully I'll have some physical samples soon. I came back with what feels like countless new things to write about, but for the moment let's just dispell the various rumors about caffeine in tea. We'll take a look at caffeine contents of different parts of the tea bush, absorption, flavor, and differences of caffeine in tea and coffee, to answer some of the big questions: - How much caffeine is there in tea? - How much tea is safe to drink? - What about decaffeinated tea, is it healthy? Let's start with some basic facts, from the beginning...: the quantity of caffeine in dry loose leaf tea is higher than the quantity of caffeine in the same weight of dry coffee beans. The caffeine content of a cup of tea, on average, is lower though (by about half), than the same in a like size cup of coffee. This is due to the fact that more tea is produced from the same amount of tea leaves than from coffee beans. Infusing tea beyond the recommended steeping time increases the caffeine content of the cup, which is something I recommend against - the flavor of the tea will be affected to some degree (the primary contributors to the tea 'flavor' is due to the interaction between the caffeine and polyphenols present in the leaves). So, in short, a properly infused cup of tea generally yields about half the caffeine content of a cup of tea. Caffeine content of a tea bush varies by the part of the bush used for your loose leaf tea. While caffeine levels vary slightly by region, the general breakdown of caffeine content is as follows: - Bud   4.50 % - First leaf   4.10 % - Second Leaf   3.40 % - Third Leaf   2.90 % - Upper stem   2.50 % - Lower stem   1.40 % Depending on the type of tea you are drinking (white tea, for instance is primarily just buds, with high caffeine content). Many low quality loose leaf teas have higher net quantities of stems, resulting in a lower caffeine content tea. This is important, remember, because flavor is a matter of the essential interaction between polyphenols and caffeine in tea). As far as daily consumption is concerned, it is generally safe (and has no known - at least from what I've found in all my research) to consume as much as 10 to 12 cups of tea per day. I do have to add a word of caution here though.... tea is a diuretic, due to its caffeine content. You will need to drink more water to make up for fluid loss caused by drinking a lot of tea. I realize it may sound odd, but just try it! Drink a pot of real loose leaf tea, and you'll find yourself feeling dehydrated an hour later. Of course the same isn't true for the junk that passes itself off as tea (think Lipton ice tea, for instance). To further illustrate the relative caffeine content in various beverages, here's a comparison: - Bottle of Coke (300ml) - 40mg caffeine (average) - Dark Chocolate Bar (50g) - 35mg caffeine (avg) - Cup of Coffee (8oz) - 100mg (avg) - Cup of Tea (8oz) - 35mg (avg) A pharmacologically active dose of caffeine is 200mg and a fatal dose is 10,000mg. Important to note here is also that several studies suggest that as much as 70-80% of caffeine content consumed is actually not absorbed by the body. Here is another one for you: caffeine content of green tea is approximately the same as it is in black tea. The fermentation process critical to the state of the final leaf (green or black) does affect the active Catechin (antioxidant) content of the leaf, but the caffeine content remains largely the same. So.... when the store clerk tells you that the green tea has less caffeine, don't take their word for it. Just stick with the recommended water temperatures and infusing times, and you'll get a great cup of tea - with a caffeine dose half that of coffee, and not detrimental to your health (standard disclaimer applies here, if you have any health concerns please do consult with your doctor). On to the subject of decaffeinated tea: This probably warrants its own subject, but let's at least have this for a bit of reference. There are three commercial means of extracting caffeine from loose leaf tea, including the use of solvents (either ethyl acetate or methylene chloride) or the use of carbon dioxide. While producers insist that this affects the leaf only minimally, you will be drinking a tea with less than 0.4% caffeine (that's the max content of caffeine in the dry leaf for decaffeinated tea). Again here as a purist I do want to mention that the flavor interactions will be affected, and you are consuming a product altered through the use of foreign chemical substances. Buyer beware. – article courtesy of www.Looseleaf.info [Tea & Your Health]   Six Body Benefits of Tea How teatime keeps you healthy. Think tea is just a wad of dried leaves stuffed in small bags? A hot beverage to have with breakfast? Think again! Tea is actually much more than that, according to Mary Beth Augustine, R.D., an integrative-medicine nutritionist at the Beth Israel Continuum for Health and Healing in New York City. The word refers to any brew made from herbs, spices, seeds, bark, stems, flowers or leaves. According to ancient Chinese legend, the first cup of tea was produced in 2737 B.C., when the leaves of a black tea shrub haphazardly fell into the boiling water of Emperor Shen Nung, the father of Chinese medicine. Ever since, Asian monks and herbalists have used teas to treat various ailments, from the flu to complexion blemishes. Here, some ways tea can heal you: Allergy eraser: Thyme tea can help soothe and heal allergy-addled sinuses. A natural antihistamine, thyme also has antiseptic properties to help purge infections. Brew a cup and breathe over it (you'll get a cleansing facial, too) — or simmer yourself in a thyme-infused bath. Flu fighter: Do you turn to echinacea or goldenseal the moment you feel a cold coming on? "Most people don't know you have to cycle off echinacea or you'll build up a resistance to it. And goldenseal is too potent for long-term use," says Victoria Zak, author of "20,000 Secrets of Tea." Next time, consider a tea of Pau d'arco, aka "the divine bark," an herb with immunity-building properties, which can be purchased at most health food stores and ingested daily. It is antibiotic, antibacterial, antiviral and antimicrobial, and it's packed with iron, calcium, selenium, zinc, and C and B-complex vitamins. Tummy tamer: Instead of popping Tums, brew some spicy tea to soothe digestive ailments. Ginger, known as "the hot root," warms you from head to toe and stimulates digestion-aiding enzymes. It also cures both morning and motion sicknesses. And look no further than your spice rack for relief from menstrual cramps, gas and heartburn: "Fennel, anise, coriander and cardamom all have antispasmodic properties and help create movement in the intestines," says Augustine, who suggests you add these herbs to your cup o' tea. Beauty brew: Tea made from rose hips is the ultimate age-defying and skin-hydrating brew, thanks to nutrients such as longevity-promoting vitamin K and free-radical-damage-fixing bioflavonoids and citrics. Shiny horsetail grass is one of the richest sources of silica, an essential element in tissue repair. Revive lackluster hair, skin and nails by drinking tea prepared from this prehistoric plant. Make it work double duty by placing warm tea bags on your eyes to reduce puffiness. If your hair is dull from product buildup, try a rosemary tea rinse. Rosemary cleans hair follicles and promotes hair growth, says Zak. Use once a week for thick, super-clean hair and scalp. Disease beater: In recent years, scientists have been lauding the cancer-fighting abilities of the powerful antioxidant polyphenols found in black and green teas. "These teas contain properties that not only protect the cells from carcinogens, they also shrink tumors," explains Paul Lechance, Ph.D., executive director of the Neutraceutical Institute at Rutgers University. "While we can't say you'll never get cancer if you drink tea, you are certainly doing yourself some good by drinking it." What's more: A study from the University of North Carolina concluded that people who drink three cups of tea a day reduce their risk of heart attack by 11%. Hunger helper: If you're looking for an afternoon energy boost without all the fat of chocolate and the calories of soda, Augustine favors oatstraw tea. In addition to its high-fiber content that leaves you feeling full, this potion provides high nutritional value (vitamins A, D, B1 and B2, calcium, iron and selenium) and can boost immunity and energy. Augustine also recommends bitter herb teas such as chicory and dandelion as natural appetite suppressants. – article courtesy of Lifetime TV http://www.lifetimetv.com/reallife/health/features/benefits_oftea.html by Holly St. Lifer - In addition to writing about health, sports and fitness, parenting and entertainment for print magazines and Web sites, Holly St. Lifer is a television writer and producer. Her work has also appeared on Nickelodeon, MTV, ESPN, USA Networks and A&E as well as in Parents and Parenting magazines.

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Milk Eliminates Cardiovascular Health Benefits Of Tea, Researchers Warn

Science Daily — Research published online in the European Heart Journal has found that the protective effect that tea has on the cardiovascular system is totally wiped out by adding milk.

January 9, 2007 Tests on volunteers showed that black tea significantly improves the ability of the arteries to relax and expand, but adding milk completely blunts the effect. Supporting tests on rat aortas (aortic rings) and endothelial (lining) cells showed that tea relaxed the aortic rings by producing nitric oxide, which promotes dilation of blood vessels. But, again, adding milk blocked the effect.

The findings, by cardiologists and scientists from the Charité Hospital, Universitätsmedizin-Berlin, Germany, are bad news for tea-drinking nations like the British, who normally add milk to their beverage. The results have led the researchers to suggest that tea drinkers who customarily add milk should consider omitting it some of the time.

Their study showed that the culprit in milk is a group of proteins called caseins, which they found interacted with the tea to decrease the concentration of catechins in the beverage. Catechins are the flavonoids in tea that mainly contribute to its protection against cardiovascular disease.

Senior researcher Dr Verena Stangl, Professor of Cardiology (Molecular Atherosclerosis) at the hospital, said: “There is a broad body of evidence from experimental and clinical studies indicating that tea exerts antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and vasodilating effects, thereby protecting against cardiovascular diseases. As worldwide tea consumption is second only to that of water, its beneficial effects represent an important public health issue. But, up to now, it’s not been known whether adding milk to tea, as widely practised in the UK and some other countries, influences these protective properties. So, we decided to investigate the effects of tea, with and without milk, on endothelial function, because that is a sensitive indicator of what is happening to blood vessels.”

Sixteen healthy postmenopausal women drank either half a litre of freshly brewed black tea, black tea with 10% skimmed milk, or boiled water (as a control) on three separate occasions under the same conditions. The endothelial function of the brachial artery in the forearm was measured by high resolution ultrasound before and two hours after drinking, with measurements being taken every 15 seconds for up to two minutes a time.

Said first author Dr Mario Lorenz, a molecular biologist: “We found that, whereas drinking tea significantly increased the ability of the artery to relax and expand to accommodate increased blood flow compared with drinking water, the addition of milk completely prevents the biological effect. To extend our findings to a functional model, we determined vasodilation in rat aortic rings by exposing them to tea on its own and tea with individual milk proteins added, and got the same result.”

Milk contains a number of different proteins: by testing each one separately, the researchers found that it was the three caseins that accounted for the inhibiting effect, probably by forming complexes with tea catechins.

Said Dr Stangl: “The well-established benefits of tea have been described in many studies. Our results thus provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on the risk of heart disease in the UK, a country where milk is usually added.”

She said their findings could also have implications for cancer, against which tea has also been shown to be protective. “Since milk appears to modify the biological activities of tea ingredients, it is likely that the anti-tumour effects of tea could be affected as well. I think it is essential that we re-examine the association between tea consumption and cancer protection, to see if that is the case.”

Said Dr Lorenz: “It is important to bear in mind that green tea is almost exclusively drunk without milk. So we are talking only about those countries and regions where black tea is consumed and where milk is added. We certainly don’t want to dismiss the consumption of black tea: the results of our study merely attempt to encourage people to consider that, while the addition of milk may improve its taste, it may also lower its health-protective properties.”

Dr Stangl said that another important lesson from their research was that it was vital in nutritional studies to exclude confounding factors as far as possible. Often, the effects of a single nutritional compound or beverage such as red wine, olive oil and so on, are analysed. But, it is difficult to assign clearly the observed effects and separate them from the surrounding food matrix (such as adding milk) that may bias results. It was therefore important to collect all data accurately and include potentially confounding factors in the analysis.

She said that the team was now in the process of comparing the effects of green and black tea on vascular function. “It’s an ongoing question whether green tea, with its higher catechin content, is superior to black tea in regard to endothelial function. In addition, because of the antiatherogenic potential of tea ingredients, we want to investigate the effects of the ingredients on chronic cardiovascular processes such as the development of restenosis (re-narrowing of arteries) after catheter procedures.”

- article courtesy of Science Daily
- Source4: European Society of Cardiology, January 9, 2007
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070108191523.htm
Reference: Addition of milk prevents vascular protective effects of tea. European Heart Journal. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehl442.
The European Heart Journal is an official journal of the European Society of Cardiology.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by European Society of Cardiology.

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