Showing posts with label Tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea. Show all posts

12.11.11

Seep Yourself Healthy: Hot Tea Guide & Benefits


Hello all.
Long time no talk.
I apologize 
(college has been consuming all my free time, how rude).


I love tea. 
Not only is it tasty, but it helps fix everything
... bad moods, low motivation, sicknesses, etc ... 
basically there's a tea for every occasion, 
except one that helps you win the lottery 
(I'm conducting research now). 

I was reading an article in my Self magazine,


and there was an article about 6 teas that provide certain health perks. 
I wanted to share, so I made an easy guide to selecting the perfect tea. 
Seep your way to a healthier you!


Which tea is right for you?

Want to slim down? 

Black tea may help you do that. Black tea may prevent your body from absorbing fat from food, but consume it plain because milk or cream may counteract the fat fighting effects. 

Try Bigelow's Organic Ceylon (plus it's fair trade certified!):



ACHOOOOO! 

Chamomile calms allergies (plus it's a great pre-sleep remedy). Flavonoids in this tea act like antihistamines, but you'll need to drink it daily to get its full effect.

Try Traditional Medicinals' (this brand rocks, they have a tea for everything) Organic Chamomile:



Hate goopy sunscreen?

Green tea may help protect against harmful UV rays, but pair with a non-sticky sun screen to stay well guarded against Mr. Sun.

Got a Keurig?, try Celestial's green tea K-Cups:


Need to lower your blood pressure?

Hibiscus tea may help lower blood pressure. A study showed that people who drank three 8 oz. cups of crimson tea a day saw their BP drop by 7.2 points!

Try Celestial's Red Zinger:


Have no gym motivation?

Peppermint tea helps increase athletic performance. The smell of the mint leaves help kick your gym motivation into high gear! I also drink peppermint tea after meals to help digestion!

Try Twinings' Pure Peppermint:


Need to lower your cholesterol?

Rooibus tea may help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. It's like magic.

Try Tazo's African Red Bush:




Try all 6 to turbo boost your health benefits!
Seep yourself healthy! Enjoy!


9.11.11

Bubble Tea...health friend or foe?


Oh no she didn't. 
Yes, I did.

I'm re-posting one of my most popular posts.

Bam.
________________________________________________________________



Bubble tea always seems to attract the same initial reaction from those who have never experienced it. Here's a typical dialogue between an experienced bubble tea drinker and a newbie.


Newbie: What is that? 
Expert: A bubble tea.
Newbie: Uh, what's a bubble tea? 
Expert: *Ahem* ..well it's a milk based or flavored, usually fruity, tea that contains tapioca balls.
Newbie: Hm okay, well, what are tapioca balls?
Expert: They kinda look like black, slimy fish eggs.
Newbie: Uh ew, no way are those going any where near my mouth. *Walks away*
The End.

I agree that tapioca balls are not super appealing and, sadly, have no physical relation to the pudding. They're chewy and contain no true flavor...are you drooling yet? I'm sure you're craving a big bowl of tapioca balls, mhmm. The straws are extra wide in diameter to fit more balls per sip. Need a laugh?, witness a person's first bubble tea. The initial shock of someone sucking tea followed by these chewy, slimy tapioca pearls is priceless.

I am Team Bubble Tea. My friends and I get it all the time. With that being said--I don't wanna kill your bubbly high and turn into Healthy Helga (but I will), but I was curious on how healthy bubble tea really was. I mean, tea is calorie-free and how bad can fish eggs be? I was sad about my findings.


My bubble tea of choice? Pineapple or apple green tea with tapioca balls. I don't get a milk based tea, but if ordered the milk (or non-dairy creamer) is usually not low in fat or calories. Then if you choose a fun flavoring (pineapple!) they are way high sugar content. Now the most depressing part: the "bubbles" are pure starch, they are made from cassava roots (looked that one up). Maybe their starchiness was common knowledge but for some reason I thought these balls would be made of some magical, low-calorie ingredient.  Tapioca pearls can have over 200 calories per serving (yikes!), and the tea houses I've been to are not light on the balls. They are actually pretty generous with their balls, so beware. So what was once thought of as an innocent, fun loving tea (see picture above) can rack up to over 500 calories depending on size, flavoring, and ball count.

Sigh. So another disappointing experience where something so delicious isn't so healthy. To have your tea and drink it, too?, opt out of the tapioca pearls. If you really can't part from them (and who wants ball-less tea?), then resist adding a sugar flavoring and keep it plain and simple...or just decrease your size from a medium to a small. Too attached and can't make any modifications to your bubble tea order? Well, just like everything else that isn't technically good for you, it's okay in moderation. You may not get a full serving of fruit (sorry V8), but I don't see an issue with an occasional bubble tea, I actually support it. Go balls out (or in?). 

11.7.11

Bubble Tea...health friend or foe?



Bubble tea always seems to attract the same initial reaction from those who have never experienced it. Here a typical dialogue between an experienced bubble tea drinker and a newbie.


Newbie: Uh, what exactly is a bubble tea? 
Expert: *Ahem* ..well it's a milk based or flavored, usually fruity, tea that contains tapioca balls--the "bubbles". 
Newbie: Okay well, what are tapioca balls?
Expert: They look like big, black, slimy fish eggs.
Newbie: Ew, no way are those going any where near my mouth. *Walks away*
The End.

I agree that tapioca balls are not overly attractive and, sadly, have no physical relation to the pudding. They are chewy and have no true flavor...are you drooling yet? The straws are extra wide in diameter to fit more balls per sip. If you want a laugh, witness a person's first bubble tea. The initial shock of someone sucking tea followed by these chewy, slimy tapioca pearls is priceless.

I am Team Bubble Tea. My friends and I get it all the time. With that being said--I don't wanna kill your bubbly high and turn into Healthy Helga (but I will), but I was curious on how healthy bubble tea really was. I mean, tea is calorie-free and how bad can fish eggs be? I was sad about my findings.


My bubble tea of choice? Pineapple or apple green tea with tapioca balls. I don't get a milk based tea, but if ordered the milk (or non-dairy creamer) is usually not low in fat or calories. Then if you choose a fun flavoring (pineapple!) they are way high sugar content. Now the most depressing part: the "bubbles" are pure starch, they are made from cassava roots (looked that one up). Maybe their starchiness was common knowledge but for some reason I thought these balls would be made of some magical, low-calorie ingredient.  Tapioca pearls can have over 200 calories per serving (yikes!), and the tea houses I've been to are not light on the balls. They are actually pretty generous with their balls, so beware. So what was once thought of as an innocent, fun loving tea (see picture above) can rack up to over 500 calories depending on size, flavoring, and ball count.

Sigh. So another disappointing experience where something so delicious isn't so healthy. To have your tea and drink it, too?, opt out of the tapioca pearls. If you really can't part from them (and who wants ball-less tea?), then resist adding a sugar flavoring and keep it plain and simple...or just decrease your size from a medium to a small. Too attached and can't make any modifications to your bubble tea order? Well, just like everything else that isn't technically good for you, it's okay in moderation. You may not get a full serving of fruit (sorry V8), but I don't see an issue with an occasional bubble tea, I actually support it. Go balls out (or in?). 


 

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