Sure we live in the coffee capital of the world, we love our caffeine and who can blame us? But did you know that tea is the second most popular drink next to water? Tea (other than herbal) contains caffeine, just like our beloved coffee, but has way more health benefits. Just drinking one cup of tea can mean 5% higher bone mineral density and lowers the risk of high blood pressure by 46%, two cups and the benefits include 26% lower risk of mental decline that comes with getting older as well as lowering your risk of skin cancer by 35%, three cups can lower your chance of heart attack by 11% and will give you added benefit of 37% lower risk of breast cancer. Tea is not only hydrating, but is brimming with up to five times more antioxidants than any fruit or vegetable, has disease fighting compounds (lil ninja fighters) that prevent certain cancers, keeps your heart healthy, burns fat, keeps weight off, sharpens your mind and keeps father time at bay while helping stress. That is an amazing resume for a tiny leaf don’t you agree? Not only is tea calorie free, but it has been shown that tea drinkers can multi-task easily which may explain this wonder leaf’s ability to fend off Parkinson’s and possibly slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. It’s also been shown to protect you from bone loss, heart disease, lower your LDL cholesterol and help prevent the development of skin tumors. If you want to boost tea’s benefits, squeeze some lemon or add some orange juice to help you absorb up to three times as much of those polyphenol antioxidants. With all these benefits we would be crazy not to brew a few cups a day and toast our health!

Generally speaking there are 5 types of tea: White, Green, Oolong, Black and Herbal. Herbal tea is usually made from dried fruits, flowers, herbs and spices and while the are known for their pleasant perfume and relaxing properties, they do not contain any caffeine. White tea is picked when the leaves are young giving it a mild flavor, while delivering anticancer benefits and 10 to 15 mg of caffeine per cup. Green tea (traditionally from Japan or China) is heat treated right after harvesting keeping the leaves from oxidizing which helps it retain high amounts of healthy antioxidants and has 25 to 30 mg of caffeine per cup. Oolong tea is withered and rolled by hand, the leaves are partially oxidized before being fired in a pan or basket. Oolong tea is the best of both worlds, having the complexity of black tea while tasting like green, it has been shown in studies to boost metabolism and this leaf has 30 to 50 mg of caffeine per cup. Black tea is fully oxidized leaves that are full bodied and strong as well as slightly bitter in flavor. Black tea has been shown to decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease and pack 40 to 60 mg of caffeine per cup. Just for comparison, an 8 oz. cup of brewed coffee has between 95-200 mg of caffeine and 1 oz. of expresso has anywhere from 40-75 mg without all the health benefits. Loose tea leaves has the most potency when it comes to delivering antioxidants, but tea bags will do in a pinch. If you are brewing your own just remember the lighter the leaves the cooler the water…White tea should be steeped in 155 degree water (take boiling water and let rest for three minutes before your pour), Green at 165 degrees (let boiling water rest 2 minutes before pouring), Oolong at 200 degrees (let boiling water rest one minute before pouring) and Black tea at 212 degrees (no resting time). Steeping time is usually 3-5 minutes, but stay closer to 3 with tea bags which steep more quickly than loose leaves. Don’t worry if you overstep, just add more water to dilute it for taste.

Always finding something interesting to post and this caught my eye. Caffeine, that won’t give us the jitters, revs up metabolism, wards off disease, sharpens your mind (not a bad thing when on bike), keeps us young(er) and helps stress. We all like twofers, but this is way more than that…I call that a major win win! Keep two wheels on the road gals and I look forward to seeing you out there this year on the road and on the track! Vixens Ride!