About the Tea Leaf

About the tea leaf
In China where huge tea gardens grow, tea leaves are picked by hand. Women are given the job of picking the leaves because their fingers are very suitable for the plucking process. The leaves are very delicate and the process requires great precision. The leaves are shaped like a spearhead, and the best leaves are at the top of the shoot. The other leaves on the shoot are called “flags” and are considered a lower quality tea. Green tea comes from the first flags, and black tea from the other leaves on the plant.
The quality of the leaves depends on the time of year they have been picked. Spring time gives the best tea leaves, and the other months produce a lower quality tea. The leaves are picked all through the year most times, but often tea leaf pickers pluck the leaves during the first part of the year, and than will rest for the fall and winter months. This also gives the leaves time to renew themselves.
The best time of day for tea leaf picking is before 7am, and between 7-9am will also suffice. Farmers also choose after sunset to pick the leaves. The sun is not as strong at these times, and so the tea will be of higher quality. Some farmers dislike early morning picking, because the moisture in the leaves ruins the quality of the teas. According to the farmers, the drying process is more difficult with the moisture, and so they pluck the leaves in the afternoon. Farmers have to keep the tea plants free of fungi and insects. They prefer not to use pesticides, as pesticides ruin the flavors of the teas. Crops need to be re-planted when they become damaged, and processed immediately after picking for the highest quality in tea.

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Importance of Green Tea

Green tea is found out to be a good drink. It has anti cancer nutrients and it is better than coca cola, coffee or other black teas. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant found in green tea, is at least 100 more times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times more effective than vitamin E at protecting cells and DNA from damage believed to be linked to cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses. This antioxidant has twice the benefits of resveratrol, found in red wine.

Bottled green tea has alot of sugar and if you make it on your own then you know how much sugar you put in so brewed by yourself is better than bottled. Lipton Green Tea has a label claiming its powerful antioxidents 190 to be exact it proves it potency in delivering what Green Tea is and why its good for your body.

Decaffeinated brewed green tea contains only 56 milligrams, less than half of the catechins found in an original brew. Flavored brewed green tea has 43 milligrams. Disappointingly, instant green tea has only 12 milligrams.

Here are just a few known health benefits of drinking green tea:

Lowers cholesterol
Aids in weight loss by burning calories
Reduces high blood pressure
Prevents arthritis
Boosts your immune system
Lowers blood sugar
Helps prevent cavities and tooth decay
Slows the aging process
Reduces the risk of heart disease
Reduces the risk of stroke
Lowers the risk of blood clot

You can use either tea bag or dried leaves. greentea smoothens our skin, it helps in our body's elimination of wastes and body toxins which promotes prolong life with less entire body complications. Oolong tea is good for blood circulation and skin. Green tea may be fine for preventing aging in skin, but will do nothing to help your acne. Green tea has antioxidents which will slow down collogen breakdown, hence it will help to keep skin young looking and delay the onset of wrinkles.

The caffeine in the tea perks up your skin and tightens the skin so it does appear for a few hours that the wrinkles are diminished. However if you want to treat fine lines I would suggest you always use a moisturizer and use a mild anti wrinkle cream at night to prevent further lines and to treat existing lines. It calms the vessels around the eyes and makes them look less tired and worn out. Just heat up the tea bags in water and squeeze them out. Make sure they are not too hot to apply to the eyelid by testing them on the inside of your arm. Make sure the tea bags are cold and just put them over your eyes like you would a cucumber. you should feel a soothing sensation over your eyes

It is believed that the health benefits of jasmine tea may surpass those of green tea. Several studies have found jasmine tea lowers cholesterol levels. Other studies found that fruit flies lived 20% longer when jasmine tea was added to their drinking water.

The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids. And that's not all. In the lab, green tea helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, whether you drink it or apply it directly to the skin - which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.

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Tea Facts

Tea is the most popular drink after water. Hot tea beverage consumption is growing all over the world, especially green tea for its health benefits.

The tea leaf used in making various tea recipes is plucked from an evergreen tree called Camellia sinensis which grows up to 15 meters. Various sub species of the tree plant gives rise to 3000 varieties of tea leaves. Tea is grown all over the World especially in India, Sri Lanka and China.

A wide majority of tea drinkers in United States of America prefer to consume iced tea i.e. almost eighty percent.

Tea cupful contains half the amount of caffeine than a cupful of coffee does. Tea contains healthy chemicals which are tremendously beneficial for health.

Afternoon tea in United Kingdom was the idea of Duchess of Bedford. Afternoon tea was accompanied with light sandwiches and cakes. She turned this into an English custom to cheer things up during post lunch period.

Tea especially green tea leaf is the richest source of polyphenols and anti-oxidants. Research has shown the health benefit of tea drink. Those who drink tea regularly are less likely to suffer from stroke, heart diseases and cancer. Higher consumption of black tea reduces the chance of fatal heart.

Darjeeling tea offers amazing flavors for the premium tea drinkers. But tea estates at Darjeeling also employ the largest number of people in this hill district. Darjeeling tea is the most expensive and flavorful tea leaf in the World.

There are four main types of tea: Black tea the most popular, Green tea, and White and Red tea leaf. The difference arise from the manner in which tea is grown and processed else for all the four types of leaf are the same.

Tea blends are a mixture of varieties of tea leaves. They are mixed together by tea brand manufacturers to create specific and popular flavors.

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