Green Tea, Superhero or Villain?

My Medical Minute

I was cruising the net the other day and parked my net cruiser in a site on green tea. To my chagrin I discovered something about green tea that I had not known before. I am well aware of the benefits of green tea like its weight reduction capacity, its ability to reduce certain cancers and its massive antioxidant punch. I really didn't know that it had a downside.

Green tea contains fluoride and I was well aware of the evils of fluoride. Fluoride bonds easily and strongly to another element called aluminum. Aluminum is found in the brains of those who have succumbed to Alzheimer's disease. Therefore we should work very hard to keep both of these out of our bodies. Fluoride also displaces iodine in the body and iodine is the most important component in the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Ever heard of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Google CFS and iodine for more information. So, do I throw out all my green tea or what?

I pondered the situation until I arrived at several conclusions. For years I have been very diligent to remove all aluminum sources from my kitchen. Basically I have replaced everything aluminum with stainless steel. In the shop and at work if aluminum is to be handled, the gloves go on. Even things like antiperspirants, read the label and if aluminum is on that label leave it right there on the shelf. Then I made another discovery.

Green tea comes from a small evergreen shrub called Camellia Sinensis. As a matter of fact, both white and black tea come from that same shrub. White tea has the least fluoride content and the older the green tea, the more fluoride content it has. So guess who's switching over to white tea? I am not throwing out my green tea, just using it less than before and adding white tea to my daily regimen. I am not afraid of fluoride as long as the aluminum sources are reduced to zero!

Secrets Revealed About The Benefits Of Organic Cooking HERE!

Green Tea

My Medical Minute

I remember my first cup of green tea. Actually, I remember the first sip. I guess I thought that it should taste somewhat similar to black tea. What a shock! It had this horrible taste, a taste that reminded me of a certain odor. I have been in the pasture a few times when the cow has dropped her tail and walked away. There is this certain odor you know and the taste in my mouth reminded me of this odor. "How in the world will I ever get to like this stuff if it tastes like that?" I wondered. I struggled valiantly through this cup and a few more before I hit upon my answer. Half a teaspoon of honey works wonders. A little bit of honey really does sweeten things up!

I had been reading about green tea in a magazine and the magazine said that one cup of green tea had about 400 times the antioxidant punch of an orange. So if its even half that good I've got to have it. Antioxidants are that wild bunch that mellow out the free radicals. So what's a free radical?

Every atom has a nucleus and a certain set of electrons circling around it. Molecules are just a cluster of atoms bonded together. If an atom or a molecule loses an electron it becomes unbalanced and it goes cruising through the body trying to get another electron. Any electron will do. In its desperate attempt to grab another electron, it may pull other electrons from other atoms making them unstable and doing the same thing. These unbalanced atoms or molecules are called free radicals. Now there are some molecules like vitamin C that have more electrons than they need to remain balanced. They can give up an electron without becoming unbalanced themselves. They are called antioxidants and when they give up an electron to a free radical they stabilize it so that it doesn't cruise through the body causing all kinds of damage.

Now do you understand the saying, "Always make your antioxidant cocktail as powerful as possible"!


MORE SECRETS ABOUT YOUR ANTIOXIDANT COCKTAIL HERE!

Put A Little Ginger In Your Step

My Medical Minute

Last summer my stomach went to war with me. I don't know what I ate but it turned into pure burning fire. I decided that I would hit this thing all out. I very carefully monitored everything that I ate. I fed myself only the things that I knew would not hurt me, water and vegetables, well maybe a little more than that. Then I turned to the internet and googled indigestion teas. One site had four options the first one was ginger and the second one was peppermint. Peppermint I was familiar with and had just forgotten about. Ginger on the other hand was new. I knew about it but had never used it. Thus began my ongoing research about ginger.

Ginger is not only a digestive aid it offers many benefits. It is not only used to treat headaches and common colds but it also pushes the testosterone levels up. It is said that flat ginger ale, crackers and ginger can work wonders. I prefer a cup of green tea with a half teaspoon of honey and about a third teaspoon of powdered ginger. The ginger settles to the bottom so when you get to the last quarter cup of tea it is helpful to swirl the liquid in the cup to get the ginger up and then drink it quickly to get the ginger in the system.

I do the ginger ale thing with a quarter inch of apple cider vinegar in a quarter cup of ginger ale. Ginger ale has 24 grams of carbohydrates per cup and this is about two tablespoons of sugar so I stick to a quarter cup of ale. But this is another story!


MORE SECRETS HERE FOR HEALTHY EATING!