Photo by OiMax via Flickr

Megan’s family has a history of type 2 diabetes.  Her mom, dad, older sister and aunt all have it and the doctors even said that the diabetes had contributed to both her father’s heart attack and her aunt’s nerve damage.  That was more than enough to scare Megan into learning as much about diabetes as possible in order to avoid getting it herself.  No matter how busy she got, she was making sure her health was her number one priority.

For people like Megan that are trying to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study coming out of the Netherlands may be of great interest.

Study:
Scientists from Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care looked at how consumption of coffee and tea may impact the risk of type 2 diabetes.  They sent out a food-frequency questionnaire to 40,011 participants to assess coffee and tea consumption and other lifestyle and dietary factors, with an average follow up time of 10 years.  The scientists also examined blood pressure, caffeine, magnesium and potassium as possible contributing factors.  What they found out was that daily consumption of at least 3 cups of coffee and/or tea reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by approximately 42%.  However, there was no association found with blood pressure, magnesium, potassium and caffeine.

What does this mean?
This means that drinking at least 3 cups of coffee and/or tea daily may lower your risk of type 2 diabetes.  However, scientists are unsure what it was in the coffee or tea that caused this decreased risk.  So, yes more studies still need to be done.  But at least you will have one more reason to feel good about drinking your coffee or tea!

Source: Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Netherlands, Diabetologia. 2009 Sep 1. (via PubMed)

So, today my goal is to introduce you to this wonderful herbal, red tea that not only tastes heavenly, but is also very healthy to drink.  So, sit back and enjoy the show!

If you haven’t yet, please subscribe through iTunes.

References used while researching this show are rooibos.com and Wikipedia.

Photo by KaiChanVong via Flickr

Everywhere I look these days, I see tearooms and gourmet teashops springing up!  Now that people realize that tea is both tasty and healthy, drinking tea seems to be the trendy thing to do.  Even coffee shops like Starbucks are adding more tea to their menus to cash in on the trend.

What is the appeal of tea?
Have you ever noticed that when you drink a cup of tea, you don’t get that instant jolt of energy that you get from coffee?  Instead you get a less intense, but more sustained rise in energy that continues long after coffee’s caffeine has worn off.  As an additional benefit, instead of making you jittery after a few cups like coffee can, tea actually seems to calm your nerves.

Before we go any further, when I talk about tea I’m always talking about the true teas (black, green, white, pu-erh or oolong), which all come from the Camellia sinensis plant.  All true teas have caffeine in them, but to varying degrees. I’m not talking about tisanes, which are also called herbal teas and rarely have any caffeine at all.

Why does tea affect us differently than coffee?
There are two reasons why the caffeine in tea might affect our body so much differently than the caffeine in coffee:

1. Tea tends to have less caffeine then coffee: A cup of brewed tea has about 40 milligrams of caffeine on average, which is less than half that contained in a cup of coffee.  Of course, the exact amount of caffeine depends on the type of tea and how long it has been steeped.  For example, green teas tend to have less caffeine than black teas and a tea steeped for 5 minutes will have more caffeine than one steeped for 2.
2. Tea is rich in polyphenols: Polyphenols are antioxidants that not only help to neutralize cell damaging free radicals, but may also help to slow the absorption of caffeine into the body.  That could be why the caffeine from a cup of tea doesn’t hit you as hard or as fast as the caffeine you get from a cup of coffee.  Instead, you get a less intense, but more sustained energy.

Why is tea healthy?
Tea is a tasty beverage that is virtually calorie free, fat free, sodium free and sugar free.  Studies are showing that tea may be beneficial to one’s health.  And most of the healthy benefits of tea appear to be derived from tea’s polyphenols. Their antioxidant properties are believed to help neutralize harmful free radicals, which can damage cells, tissues and lipids over time and contribute to chronic diseases.  More research still needs to be done to confirm the role that tea plays in health, but some recent studies have been very promising. Here are some of the findings:

1. Cardiovascular health: Tea has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, blood pressure and lower total and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
2. Cancer: Some studies have shown that tea may have anti-tumor properties and may play a role in reducing the risk of cancers.  More studies need to be done though in order to confirm that link.
3. Other: Some studies are showing that tea may also contribute to oral, bone and immune health. There is also some speculation that green tea may aid in weight loss and control or prevent Type 2 diabetes.

The bottom line:
Even though more studies are needed to confirm the effect that tea has on specific health issues, most experts do agree that tea is a very healthy beverage that has a lot to offer your body and should be consumed.  So, the next time you are feeling stressed and tired and want something to both relax you and perk you up, go for a cup of tea instead of a cup of coffee or soda.  Tea is not only very healthy, but it will also help to relax you and give you the sustained energy to finish your day!

Photo by Kanko* via Flickr

Today is a milestone episode.  We made it to episode 50!  That’s an episode every Thursday for 50 straight weeks.  Not bad!  And in honor of that, this episode is a listener question episode because I get a lot of great questions and I thought, what better way to thank you all for making the show what is than to dedicate a show to all your questions.

Now I want to remind you that the first episode of the new Being Healthy TV video podcast is coming out this Sunday and every week after that.  So, please subscribe and, better yet, tell at least one person you know about Being Healthy TV.  The more people that know, the more people I can help!

In this show, I will answer questions regarding exercise induced asthma, suntan lotions with exceptionally high SPF’s, the accuracy of blood pressure machines in drug stores and the difference between decaf and regular tea.

As promised here is the link for show 46, which is about the dangers of tanning.

Some references I used while researching this show are Mayo Clinic, WebMD, usforacle.com and about.com.

The blog posts for this week are:

1. Millet: Not Just for the Birds!
2. Eating Healthy Is As Simple As 1-2-3

If you like the show, please head on over to iTunes and give me a nice review. It’s a great way to give me some good exposure and can help me get more listeners. Thanks for listening, everyone!

Some references I used in the research for this show are the Mayo Clinic, WebMd and Wikipedia.

I end the show with a question from Cynthia regarding aversions to fruits and vegetables because of their texture.  I referenced nutrition.about.com while answering this question.

If you like the show, please head on over to iTunes and give me a nice review. It’s a great way to give me some good exposure and can help me get more listeners. Thanks for listening, everyone!

This show is dedicated to the wonderful world of tea. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage around the world. In this show, I discuss in great depth the four main “true” teas: White tea, Green tea, Oolong tea and Black tea. They are called true teas because they are all harvested from the same tea plant, Camilla Sinensis whereas other teas aren’t.

I go over where these teas are mainly produced, how they are processed, what they taste like, some of their varieties and how to make a perfect cup of that tea. I also lightly touch on how herbal teas differ from true teas. Some references that I used were Wikipedia, about.com and oolongtea.org.

If you like the show, please head on over to iTunes and give me a nice review. It’s a great way to give me some good exposure and can help me get more listeners. Thanks for listening everyone!