Boost Your Health With Tea and Honey

Boost Your Health With The Benefits of Tea and Honey.

I admit it. I’m a tea drinker. I  enjoy a cup of herbal tea with honey in my favorite teacup every morning. There’s just something about the taste that helps me get my day off to a great start.

But aside from the taste there are benefits to drinking tea with honey. And in this time of stress and health problems, a natural way to help ward off some of the sicknesses is a good thing, in my opinion.

It’s been known for a long time there are many health benefits associated with this enjoyable drink. And health experts know that honey is a force for combating diseases and maintaining good health.

But, did you know that combining tea with honey inserts a blast of benefits that far exceeds ingesting each one by itself? And adding just a hint of honey ups the flavor of just about all herbal tea.

Together, tea and honey can provide powerful and extraordinary health benefits to your life. I decided to explore which teas are valuable in antioxidants and are beneficial to reducing health problems in our lives and how adding honey to tea can maximize the advantages.

The effects of drinking certain teas have been studied in China for 4,700 years when Emperor Shennong wrote that some teas (oolong, green, white and black) could successfully treat medical ailments such as fatigue, tumors, abscesses and conditions involving the bladder.

The cleansing antioxidants in tea are what makes it so valuable to our health. Tea is also a stimulant, which explains how it can help you overcome fatigue.

Another reason to drink tea is that certain types of tea have been shown they may reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancer.

Honey is also one of those ancient food sources that is helpful in treating certain medical conditions. It’s said to have been mentioned in Babylonian and Sumerian writings, in the ancient documents of Egypt and India and also believed to have been used even further back in time.

I’ve included a few tips on choosing the best tea and honey and a couple of different types.

Health Benefits of Tulsi Tea

A mix of spicy and sweet, Tulsi tea is said to be a gift from nature to the human race. You can name almost any health problem and  Tulsi tea can help improve or eliminate it.

Tulsi is actually an herb grown primarily in India, where it’s commonly referred to as “holy basil.” India’s ancient health system is called Ayurveda, meaning “knowledge of life,” and the Tulsi herb is the foundation of the system. Ayurveda is mentioned in writings as far back as 5000 BC and is holistic in nature – promoting both mental and physical health.

Plentiful in antioxidants, Tulsi contains a myriad of properties that are essential to maintain good health. Among the health benefits you can reap by drinking Tulsi tea are:

• Respiratory health
• Protects against “free radicals” which damage our bodies. (Free radicals are caused by conditions in our lives such as smoking and environmental pollution).
• Digestive system
• Metabolism
• Vision
•  Immune system
• Pain relief
• Slows aging

There’s almost no end to the benefits that Tulsi tea can bring to your body. You can easily see why the Tulsi plant was considered sacred in India and could be found in almost every Indian household, grown in pots and used daily to promote health.

It’s easy to make and has a sweet and spicy taste that you’ll enjoy. You can find online sites that will ship tulsi tea and provide recommendations about how to brew it and how it can help your health.

Health Benefits of Green Tea

Green tea has been enjoyed by millions of people for many centuries, beginning over 4,000 years ago in China and later spread to most of the Eastern countries. It was used as a medicine to help healing, level body temperature, aid digestion and control bleeding.

Its benefits are numerous and scientists are still finding more about the health advantages that green tea can bring into our lives.

Among these health benefits are:

•  Diabetes prevention and control – Green tea has long been linked to diabetes as a way to reduce insulin levels and blood glucose. Catechins, found in green tea are said to block sucrose and starch in the digestive system.
• Weight loss – Green tea’s ability to block starch may help to rid our bodies of excess fat.
• Lower blood pressure – Those who suffer from high blood pressure can benefit from the effects of drinking green tea.
• Lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) – Green tea’s antioxidants help improve the flexibility of our body’s blood vessels.
• Heart disease – Antioxidants in green tea help to dilate the blood vessels and other components help to strengthen cell walls.
• Cancer – Many cancers are caused by “free radicals,” which feed on the body’s pollution and poor health conditions. The catechins found in green tea can have a profound effect on promoting a health immune system, which in turn gets rid of free radicals.

There are many other benefits to drinking green tea, a fact that the Eastern hemisphere has known for millenniums. Those who have enjoyed green tea for years report that they have more energy, lost weight and that many health maladies have lessened as a result.

Green tea is the variety I reach for first thing in the morning. I find it gives me a boost of energy that helps me get going. I’ll have a cup (or two 😉 ) with my breakfast.

Types of Green Tea

The green tea leaves are processed by heating before they oxidize, which means that they must be steam or dry heated immediately after they’re harvested.

There are so many great green teas to choose from. Online stores have an amazing collection of many Japanese and Chinese teas, but you can also find them in specialty stores. Beware of supermarket green teas – they tend to be of lower quality and can taste bitter.

You may want to try several types before deciding on a particular one. There are flavored green teas as well as roasted and steamed. One of my favorite brands is Numi Organic Tea Gunpowder Green tea bags. It has a full-bodied flavor that’s not grassy like a lot of Japanese green teas.

Some online tea stores have specialty packages, which offer a sampling of teas that you can try and order more of when you decide on one that you like. Be sure to purchase high quality green teas to reap the full health benefits.

How to Choose Tea

With so many brands and types of of herbal teas it’s hard to know which ones to choose. Here are are a few of things I consider when picking a tea.

1. It needs to be grown organically with very little processing.
2. Look for the herbal tea for what your condition is. So for instance if you have an upset stomach, choose chamomile.
3. Do you want caffeinated or not?
4. Is the variety I want come in loose leaf or bags or both. I prefer tea bags most of the time since it’s quicker.

Health Benefits of Honey

Honey is sometimes called the ‘miracle of nature.’

In terms of health benefits, honey can strengthen your immune system, help treat many ailments such as arthritis and give you a natural boost of energy. And – it tastes great!

Besides the quick benefits of boosting energy and giving you a “sweet” fix, there are long term health benefits to adding honey to your daily diet:

• Immune System – Honey to your immune system is like using Draino to clean pipes. It rids the body of free radicals that pollute your system and keep it from being able to effectively fight diseases.
• Anti-bacterial – If you’ve had problems with your digestive system, honey can use its anti-bacterial attributes to help get your organs working in sync to promote and aid digestion.
• Anti-cancer – While honey can’t cure cancer, it can prevent carcinogens and tumors from forming in your body.
• Natural home remedy – Honey has been used for literally thousands of years to help treat a myriad of complaints such as yeast infections, skin problems and as a natural method to alleviate pain.
•  Sleep inducement – Honey has sleep inducing qualities that can help you get a good night’s sleep, especially when combined with a cup of chamomile tea.
•  Weight loss – Honey contains more calories than sugar, but its ability to help digest fat stored in your body makes it a great addition to your diet plan if you’re trying to lose weight.

Try to find absolutely pure honey when you purchase it for health reasons. When choosing honey, I prefer to go with organic, which simply means it’s harvested sustainably without chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or pesticides. I like this one.

There are many online websites that offer great deals on the purest of honey and many health food stores also carry honey in pure form.

Combine Honey and Tea for Extra Health Benefits

Tea and honey go together like love and marriage. When you add honey to a cup of hot tulsi or green tea, you’ll reap health benefits many times more than having a single spoonful of honey or a cup of green tea.

The melding of tea and honey produces a delicious beverage that provides medicinal values far beyond that of most items you can purchase in a pharmacy for certain ailments. Among the healing abilities of combining tea and honey are:

•  Inflammation – When your body is inflamed because of an infection or illness, tea and honey can help to sooth the affected areas. Cancer is one of the inflammatory diseases that can benefit from a concoction of tea and honey, reducing swelling and bringing pain relief.
• LDL Cholesterol – Tea and honey provides an excellent medicinal combination for reducing bad (LDL) cholesterol and promoting good cholesterol. This powerful duo can free the arteries of debris caused by free radicals and plaque that can clog the arteries and cause a stroke.
• Heart Disease – Heart disease is caused by a number of different factors, including genetic, but by including tea and honey in your daily diet regimen, you can reduce the risks of having a heart attack. Tea and honey clears the arteries and promotes a healthy blood flow to the heart.
• Healing – Scientific research has revealed that tea and honey can advance the healing process of a body that’s been damaged in some way. The antioxidant powers of combining the two agents will trigger the healing of wounds and is also helpful after surgery.
• Cough and Cold – It was Grandma’s remedy back in the day, and it still works in today’s modern world of mentholated syrups and other sugary tasting medicines. While soothing a sore throat, tea and honey will also inhibit a severe cough.

The long-term effects of adding tea and honey to your diet can do wonders for your immune system and prevent the onslaught of diseases. Losing weight and feeling more energetic are also reasons for including honey and tea as part of your “get healthy” plan.

Online sites make it easy to browse through teas and honeys at your leisure. Be sure and find sites that offer pure products and take pride in the way they process and package the items. Consumers have become much more sophisticated about the various types of tea and honey.

With all the health benefits of tea and honey, it’s more important than ever to take some time every day to enjoy your favorite blend. Just 10 minutes of relaxing and sipping can go a long way in boosting your health.

It’s fun and rewarding to add tulsi tea, green tea and honey to your diet as a supplemental drink – it’s a healthy and delicious plan.

What’s your favorite tea? How do you enjoy it? I’d love to hear from you. Comment below, connect with me on my Facebook page or join my Facebook group.

hugs,

Carol

p.s. When I want to enjoy a good cup of  tea, I use an old fashioned style tea kettle to heat my water. Getting the water hot is best for releasing the beneficial oxidants in most teas.