Striving4Zen

Not too much! It is important that your body be able to focus on rest and repair while you sleep, rather than on digestion. It is more important to gear your evening meal towards relaxation and good digestion than to consume any particular food or drink before bed.

Your evening meal should:

• emphasize low-to-medium glycemic index carbohydrates, such as whole-grain breads, rice, or pasta, yams, a mixed green salad, or lightly sautéed vegetables
• include a small portion of a healthy fat-containing food, such as olive oil, avocado, or nuts or seeds or their oils or butters
• include herb tea (especially chamomile or peppermint) or other non-stimulating water-based beverage
• include only fresh, dried, or cooked fruit for dessert, if dessert is desired.

Your evening meal should be eaten about 4 hours before bedtime so that the main digestive effort is finished, but the energy from these foods can be released gradually throughout the night. If it is necessary for you to eat a snack at bedtime, choose one or two of the following:

• small cup of herb tea or warm milk (soy, nut, or dairy)-not so much that you must wake up to use the restroom in the middle of the night
• small serving of fresh or dried fruit
• small handful of raw nuts or seeds

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Labels: digestion, herbal teas, living holistically, sleep

So what are the different kinds of teas? Well, there are four basic types: black, green, oolong and white. However there are a few others as well.

• Black Tea - The tea leaves are allowed to fully oxidize, so the leaves of the tea are darker than others. It has been the most popular type of tea in western countries due to the fact that it has a longer storage life and was more suitable for transport in the early days of tea trade. Often referred to as "red tea" in many parts of Asia.
• Green Tea - The leaves of green tea are un-oxidized or minimally oxidized by steam or dry cooking in hot pans. The steaming process allows the leaves to retain their green color. Due to the shorter shelf-life, green teas should be consumed as soon after production as possible.
• Oolong Tea - The oxidation process is stopped somewhere between green and black tea, usually within 2-3 days. It generally has more flavor than green tea, but brews lighter than black.
• White Tea - Made from the buds and young leaves of the tea plant. In order to stop the oxidation process, the leaves are fried or steamed immediately after picking. It is very delicate in taste and has a unique sweetness. In general, the price of white tea is usually more than the others.
• Post-fermented Tea - These leaves undergo a second oxidation and are meant to be aged. It's also produced from the mature, larger leaves of older tea trees. It can take several years to age. Pu-erh is the most common type of post-fermented tea.
• Yellow Tea - A special tea processed similarly to green tea, however the drying phase is much slower.
• Herbal Tea - Made by infusing or boiling leaves, seeds, flowers, stems, roots, and bark of various plants. It is not a "true tea" since the leaves do not all come from the tea tree.

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Labels: beverages, green tea, healthy living, herbal teas, Oolong Tea, Pu-erh tea, types of tea

Genetics, diet, and stress can cause high blood pressure (hypertension), but a recent study shows there's a way to lower it naturally.

Drink three cups of hibiscus tea a day. Look for this tea at your health food store, either solely hibiscus, or ones that are blended with this herb. The ability to lower blood pressure has to do with the actual plant and also the relaxing effects of sipping tea.

Although your blood pressure may not decrease dramatically, even a small drop can benefit the body and lower your risk of the health problems associated with hypertension. Most people — 50 percent — are unaware that they even have high blood pressure, so if you haven't had yours checked in a while, see a doctor, or use one of those machines at your pharmacy. If it's on the high side, while you're out, pick up some hibiscus tea.

Thanks for the Tip FitSugar!

Labels: herbal teas, hibiscus tea, natural therapy, relaxation

QUESTION: Should I be concerned about drinking coffee?

ANSWER:

Our one word answer to this coffee question would be: yes. We think you should be concerned about drinking coffee - but perhaps for some different reasons that you might expect. Few research studies have found direct links between coffee and disease - based on this type of research, coffee appears to be in a different category than saturated fat, or alcohol. But virtually all research studies show definite impacts of coffee on metabolism, and on overall body function. In many sports events, for example, caffeine-containing beverages - including coffee - are disallowed 24 hours prior to certain events. Why? Because the caffeine in coffee is chemically classified as a methylxanthine, and methylxanthines are chemical substances that can act as phosphodiesterase inhibitors (substances that shut down the activity of the phosphodiesterase enzyme), and when they do, they shift the body away from sugar as a source of fuel and toward fat as a fuel source instead.

For certain athletic events, this shift from sugar to fat would give the athlete an unfair advantage, and so coffee and caffeine are disallowed. Does this set of events mean coffee is bad for the average non-athlete? No, but it does mean that the caffeine in coffee affects your metabolism at a fundamental level. Coffee - again, largely thanks to its caffeine - is also a diuretic, and unless accompanied by increased water intake, can be dehydrating. Is this bad? Yes. Keeping optimal water balance in the body is essential for health.

One of the most problematic aspects of coffee, however, is its ability to make a person feel awake, alert, and ready to go - even when that person's body is exhausted, drowsy, and in need of rest and sleep. The caffeine in coffee provides a false feeling of vitality - the exact opposite of the world's healthiest foods. These foods provide real vitality - complete with conventional nutrients, phytonutrients, and the wisdom of the earth that produced them.

Finally, what about decaf? Organically grown, water-decaffeinated coffee is the best choice here, since other methods of decaffeination typically add small amounts of toxic substances to the beverage. But unless it is simply the taste and aroma of coffee that are desired, why not experiment with other hot beverages from the cornucopia of herbal teas that most cultures include in their traditional cuisines and that provide the nutrients and phytonutrients that are characteristic of the world's healthiest foods?

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Labels: atheletes, caffeine, coffee, herbal teas, world's healthiest foods