Is it just me or is Old Man Winter hanging around a little too long?  Here in Toronto we have been hit with storm after storm, dropping a gazillion feet of snow on our city.  With shovel in hand I have (like many of my fellow Torontonians) been digging out more often than I can remember in recent history.  To warm my spirits I usually throw on some hot water and relax with a cup of Genmaicha (it’s my cup of choice lately).  All that relaxing got me thinking…

I have been meaning to share some information on tea that I have stumbled upon while trapped inside and since this is my first post in a while let’s dig a little bit into the health related benefits of the small but mighty tea leaf.

Recently findings were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology related to a study that was conducted with a group of 63,257 Chinese men and women.  The study found that the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease could be cut by as much as a whopping 71% by the consumption of 23 cups of black tea a month (that works out to less than a cup of tea per day).

Researchers have concluded:

“Ingredients of black tea other than caffeine appear to be responsible for the beverage’s inverse association with Parkinson’s disease,”

I also found some information from this past September when the fourth annual International Scientific Symposium on Tea & Human Health was held in Washington, DC. Many findings were presented that touched on the potential contributing affects that tea has on our health:

• Theanine (found in tea) was linked to the body’s ability to stay attentive and focused. Studies found that the most significant improvements occured when tea was consumed every 3-4 hours. What I found interesting is that the caffeine that is naturally found in tea helped to boost the effectiveness that theanine had in this study.
• Tea (naturally rich in catechins) may help support the brain as we age and provide a defense against dementia and other related ailments.
• Tea flavonoids may improve cardiovascular health by reducing inflammation and improving blood vessel functions.
• Green teas rich in catechins may aid in weight management by reducing body fat.

These are just some of the positive findings that were announced.  Although our ancestors have known about the healing properties of tea for centuries scientific investigation has only really started to scratch the surface on the myriad of mental and physical health benefits of tea.   I’m sure that with further research we will be hearing about some amazing (and perhaps unusual) findings related to tea in the future.

…now where did I put my shovel?