green tea

[chris1970]

how good is green tea for you really???? is it high in caffine?

[Snowy Owl]

Just put `green tea` into Google and there are dozens of pages about it. You can get all the info you need and then make up your mind. I will only say that it is an acquired taste! Don`t think that you will like it on first tasting. My OH can take it as it comes, but I have to have honey (organic of course) in it to make it palatable. If you do decide to try it, go for the loose leaves and NOT the bags, that way you will get the best flavour and effects.

[888sally888]

Have you tried Organic White Tea (from Waitrose) - its as good for you as green but actually tastes OK on its own.

[Kim A]

Chris, I drink green and white loose teas all the time. The only things I would say are - I find it delicious. The way I was advised to make it was: Loose leaves into one of thhose tea basket things that fit inside a teapot. Put the water into the teapot. The water should be at about 70 degrees (just off boiling). Lower the tea into the water and leave for between 6 and 8 minutes. I prefer it at 6 minutes steeping. Then take the tea out. It gets really bitter if you leave it in too long. Types of choice : Pai Mu Tan, Pine needle, Gunpowder green. You'll probably need a proper tea merchant to get the first two and be warned they are expensive unless you buy them abroad (I get mine in Belgium). I believe both are lower in caffeine than the brown teas and are suppposed to be full of antioxidants and other health giving properties. Just don't buy teabag varieties - they're full of dusty second grade leaves and just disgusting.!

[nickmo]

Also get from a Chinese supermarket - always have a load of variations...Gunpowder tea is strong, by the way so you will only need a spoon or two at most for a teapot. Rolled leaves looking like gunpowder caps - hence the name - can also be drunk as a cold tea with lemon. Green tea is claimed to be proven to reduce the incidence of canceer and also lower bad cholesterol amongst other things, so guzzle away...

Or buy the British grown tea from the only tea estate in the UK at Tregothan Estate in Cornwall: http://www.tregothnantea.com/index.asp have green tea in bags - and its not the sweepings either....

[powyco]

The Mayo Clinic in America has had some apparent success in treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia with green tea. I have this form of cancer, and began trying to drink the stuff, but found it horrible. I used honey to sweeten it, drank it iced, but it was still beastly. Now I am taking green tea capsules from Holland and Barrett. All I can say is that my last two monthly bloodtests have shown an improvement. This doesn't prove anything, but my GP is impressed, and wants me to carry on.

[mattie]

I drink 3 to 4 cups a day, It hasn't made me feel any better, as I am healthy and exercise regularly, but I will carry on drinking it, as its not going to do me any harm.

[dawkins]

all tea is very good for you:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5281046.stm