The Ultimate Tea Diet - The Book

The book arrived a couple of days ago (thanks, Chapters!) and I've read it.  It didn't take me long, because I skipped over a lot of it.  It's not the worst book I've read.  For $5.99, I'm happy.

Basically, the book can be summed up like this:

1.  Drink tea that you love, and lots of it, all day.
2.  Believe in yourself.
3.  Engage in a healthy lifestyle and diet.
4.  Drink more tea.  And if you can't drink any more, cook with it.  Recipes included.

So that's fine.  All good stuff.  Not necessarily life-altering or anything, but a good, basic outline for how one should live their life.  Hey, I can't argue with the drinking tea stuff.

I was a little put off at how the author, Mark "Dr.Tea" Ukra (not an actual doctor), considers himself a pioneer in the booming tea industry,

Although tea has been around for thousands of years, there has never been a face and voice of tea until tea found me and I found dr.tea's.

Also, he didn't exactly conduct any scientific experiments himself...he surveyed 18 TEAmmates and gets "hundreds of tesTEAmonials" (how annoying is that?), although he does cite many sources at the end of the book to support the majority of his claims.

Also, he writes that white tea has the least amount of caffeine.  I read the opposite in Harney & Sons Guide.  Who to believe?  (Actually, I really don't know who to believe.  I've heard both elsewhere, and need to get to the bottom of this.  More later.)

Also, a lot of it seems to be geared toward reforming coffee addicts.  I've never been addicted to coffee my whole life, so that doesn't interest me in the least.

I can't say that this is all bad.  After all, The Ultimate Tea Diet is renewing my interest in drinking tea for health's sake.  It has given me some new ideas - such as mixing my teas with different ingredients, or different teas for that matter.  And, it has made me steep my leaves many times over (so that you still get the "good stuff" without too much caffeine with the added benefit of getting more bang for your buck. There is also a decent section of recipes which use tea as an important ingredient.  I plan on trying low-fat yogurt with green matcha, and perhaps an oolong chicken and steak rub.  These are fun and healthy meals to try, so if you wouldn't be losing out on much money if you bought the book just for that section.

You'd think, with all the not-so-good stuff I've written about The Ultimate Tea Diet, that I wasn't recommending it.  Not true.  Go get the book if you are actively trying to lose weight and want another tool by your side.  Certainly no harm can come of it, and maybe it will help you.  For such a low price, I'm glad to have this book on my shelf.  I want to lose weight, and I'll be overjoyed if tea plays a part of that.

Good night!  I'm off to brew another pot (re-steeped) for the evening.

For all the Sickies Out There

I fully believe that tea (with additions) can help you when you're sick. Tea isn't a medicine, and I'm not a doctor, naturopath or a practitioner of Ayurveda. But these are some of my recommendations:

For those suffering from H1N1, stomach flu, dysentery, Montezuma's Revenge, Delhi Belly, or basic indigestion: Add ginger to your tea. Lots of it. As much as you can stomach. I found this wonderful recipe at the Chai Pilgrimage website and tried it today. Not because I'm having any tummy problems, but rather because I had a large chunk of ginger waiting for something fabulous to happen to it. Good call. It was so gingery that it gave the impression the tea was hot even when the liquid was tepid. Very tasty, and I'm sure my stomach will love me for it.

For those with sinus colds, congestion: White tea with lemon and honey. Drink it all day long. The caffeine will keep you going too. A nice thing about loose leaf tea is that you can usually infuse it many times. Good bang for your buck, and it'll shorten your cold. Yay!

Also for your sinuses (colds, allergies, sinusitis) - this doesn't have anything to do with tea, except that the apparatus looks like a teapot, and that can only be a good thing in my books - use a Neti Pot.

For sore throats, I like Honeybush, or a green tea with lemon and honey.

I also like the "usual" tisanes, like echinacea, chamomile or mint for soothing purposes.

For general good health (I believe this will rejuvenate your arteries, and possibly fight cancer too!): Mix some turmeric, black pepper and sweetener (I like black molasses) into your black tea. It's not for everyone. My friend Rebecca said it was like a curry broth. Admittedly, it's an acquired taste. But there are good stories coming out of the scientific community about the excellent effects of turmeric, and I'm going to take that to heart.

Like I said, I don't really think these will cure you of anything, but they certainly can't hurt to drink (well, except the Neti Pot. Don't drink from that. Snort it up your nose instead!) And besides, a cup of something warm usually makes you feel better anyway. So if you're feeling a little something coming on, don't panic. Just put the kettle on, get your favorite blanket and hot- water bottle and sip something wonderful.

And get better soon, 'cause personally I'm getting sick of toting the Purell around. :)

Photo courtesy of Auzigog @ Flickr.com