Green Tea

[IronFist]

If you cut open a bag of green tea and poured the contents into capsules and took them would you get the same health benefit? Or is there some magic process through steeping the tea which causes all the health benefits to be derived?

[Starchaser107]

Is it really that cumbersome and time consuming to boil a cup of tea?

[joedoe]

The steeping process releases all sorts of magical compounds, including chi!

In all seriousness, I don't know. However, I find that I prefer to drink a cup of tea to taking a capsule :)

[IronFist]

I don't mind drinking it, I'm just worried that I never get it strong enough even when I let it seep for 5-10 minutes. I drink it for health more than for taste.

[norther practitioner]

Not everything is about pills man...:eek:

[IronFist]

but I was wondering if it was ok to actually ingest the leaves and stuff or if you were just supposed to drink the water they touched.

[joedoe]

Originally posted by IronFist
but I was wondering if it was ok to actually ingest the leaves and stuff or if you were just supposed to drink the water they touched.

There shouldn't be any problem with ingesting the leaves - the Japanese actually grind the leaves up and make the tea from the powder, then drink the lot.

I think you get just as much benefit out of just drinking the tea though.

[FuXnDajenariht]

Get sum Green Tea Plus......

http://www.weightlosshealthbenefits.com/?s=g&p=gt

http://www.greenteaplus.com

[David Jamieson]

the boiling process activates the tea. You will get some small benefit if you eat tea, but not much as a lot of the goodness gets through digestion.

steeping, draughting, de-concocting all are an extraction process which expose the individual aspects of an herb.

so, take the 3 minutes out of your life to get the best benefit.

:p

[IronFist]

Originally posted by Kung Lek
the boiling process activates the tea.

How? What if the water's not boiling and it's just "hot?" At work we have a tap that produces 190 degree water (it's labeled that way). It's not boiling. Will it still work?


You will get some small benefit if you eat tea, but not much as a lot of the goodness gets through digestion.

Eating = digestion.


steeping, draughting, de-concocting all are an extraction process which expose the individual aspects of an herb.

Can you define "draughting," and "de-concocting," please?

Thanks.

[Starchaser107]

I'm no chemist but I think the hot water activates the anti-oxidant properties in the tea leaves...
Or you could smoke it, but that probably won't do much good , for your lungs , sooo it defeats the purpose

[FuXnDajenariht]

ur after the polyphenols no? thats the big scientifical name for the antioxidants in green tea..... and if tea is not ur thing try the 'plus' stuff i linked to.. its real good. you get 80-90% polyphenols in a couple droppers of the stuff. you put it in water, hot or cold.

[IronFist]

So it does require water? Can someone explain the chemical process of this to me? Thanks.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by IronFist
So it does require water? Can someone explain the chemical process of this to me? Thanks.

Wait, I think I figured it out.

Tea bag + H2O ----> antioxidents

:confused:

[FngSaiYuk]

Originally posted by IronFist
So it does require water? Can someone explain the chemical process of this to me? Thanks.

A quick google finds the following-
http://www.teatalk.com/science/chemistry.htm
http://www.teatalk.com/general/watertemp.htm
http://www.theteashop.com/prepare.htm

[Shaolinlueb]

im visiting some tea plantation in china when im in hangzhou. supposedly it has some of the best tea in china. expensive too.

[gwa sow]

well, if smoking is bad for the lungs, do what i did in when i was in high school with some other,...um,....herbal remedies. hehehe make brownies.

back to boiling tea. i drink green tea alot. i like the special gunpowder green tea. doesn't come in a little baggie. just a box full of dried up tea leaves. to make the tea right, the water has to be very hot. boil water in a pot, take off heat and add leaves. if water isn't hot enough it doesnt absorve the tea good enough. if to hot, tea leaves get kinda um,... burned i guess.

[RAF]

Green Tea Seems to Stem Spread of Prostate Cancer

23 minutes ago

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDayNews) -- Green tea appears to inhibit the spread of prostate cancer in a number of ways, says a study in the Dec. 1 issue of Cancer Research.

In research with mice, scientists from the University of Wisconsin and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland found green tea polyphenols (GTP) target molecular pathways that control the proliferation and spread of prostate tumor cells. The polyphenols also inhibit the growth of blood vessels that feed prostate tumors.

"Consumption of GTP led to reduced levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1)," study senior author Hasan Mukhtar, of the department of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin, said in a prepared statement.

"GTP also led to increased levels of one of the binding proteins for IGF-1, the insulin growth factor binding protein-3. These observations bear significance in light of studies that indicate increased levels of IGF-1 are associated with increased risk of several cancers, such as prostate, breast, lung and colon," Mukhtar said.

[herb ox]

STRONG green tea also helps reduce "dampness" in your system. Drinking a strong cup after a greasy meal helps to cut the grease and aids in digestion. Maybe that's why there's always been unlimited tea at the local Greasy Chopstick (not saying ALL Chinese rest.s are greasy, just the ones in my ethnically bland town!).

drink up.

smoked it when I was young... didn't seem to work as well :p

peace

herb ox

[RAF]

Green Tea's Record Against Cancer Grows

Green Tea Extract Targets Cancer Without Hurting Healthy Cells

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD
on Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Feb. 15, 2005 -- Green tea's reputation as a powerhouse against cancer keeps growing. Now, scientists have new insights on how green tea thwarts cancer.

Green tea extract has shown promise against cancer in numerous studies. Those findings came from animal studies and epidemiologic research, which tracks a disease's occurrence in a large population of people.

In other words, the human studies on green tea are mainly based on observation and don't prove that tea is responsible for results. But as one of the world's most popular drinks, tea is widely considered healthy, whether it's green, black, or white tea. However, green tea and green tea supplements generally contain higher amounts of disease-fighting antioxidants called polyphenols than black tea.

For instance, studies on mice showed that green tea helped prevent prostate cancer growth. Green tea extract is also reported to induce cancer cell death and starve tumors by curbing the growth of new blood vessels that feed them.

But exactly how that happens isn't clear. Tea's antioxidants may protect against some forms of cancer. They may also help prevent heart disease by relaxing blood vessels and preventing blood clots. But the precise ways green tea affects cancer aren't fully understood.


Uncovering a Clue to Green Tea's Power

Uncovering a Clue to Green Tea's Power

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers used green tea extract on human bladder cells, some of which were cancerous. Their findings appear in the Feb. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

The green tea extract targeted the cancer cells without harming healthy cells, say the researchers. Taking a closer look, they noticed something unusual about the cancer cells.

The green tea extract apparently made the cancer cells more mature, making them bind together more closely. That made it harder for the cancer cells to become invasive and spread.

"In effect, the green tea extract may keep the cancer cells confined and localized, where they are easier to treat and the prognosis is better," says researcher JianYu Rao, MD, in a news release.

That's an important clue, but it's not the final verdict on how green tea works against cancer. More work is still needed to understand the process, say the scientists.

Meanwhile, if you're interested in trying green tea, be aware that the FDA hasn't evaluated claims about green tea's powers and that supplements are not regulated by the government. If you're watching your caffeine intake, green tea does contain some caffeine (but much less than coffee).

To get green tea's potential disease-fighting benefits, studies have suggested that you should drink four cups a day. Green tea supplements are also available, and at least one study has shown that you may actually get more powerful antioxidants from supplements than from drinking tea.

As always, let your doctor know about any over-the-counter health products you're taking.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCES: Lu, Q. Clinical Cancer Research, Feb. 15, 2005; vol 11: pages 1-9. News release, UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center. WebMD Medical News: "Green Tea May Stall Prostate Cancer Growth." WebMD Medical News: "The Green Tea Taste Test." WebMD Medical News: "Green Tea Capsules Loaded With Antioxidants."

[RAF]

Study Shows How Green Tea May Fight Bladder Cancer

Wed Feb 23, 4:38 PM ET

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Green tea extract may interfere with a process that helps early bladder cancer to spread throughout the body, new laboratory research suggests.

The findings, say researchers, bolster ongoing studies into green tea extract as a cancer treatment -- and may give green tea drinkers more reason to savor every cup.

The investigators found that when they exposed human bladder cells to both a cancer-causing chemical and green tea extract, the extract interfered with a particular process by which early cancer cells become invasive and spread throughout body tissue.

This process involves the "remodeling" of actin, a structural protein in cells that is essential for cell movement. Actin remodeling allows cancer cells to move and invade nearby healthy tissue.

Based on the new findings, green tea extract may get in the way of this process by activating a protein known as Rho, which helps regulate actin's organization in cells and has been implicated in tumor development and progression.

Dr. JianYu Rao and his colleagues at the University of California Los Angeles report the findings in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

A number of studies have suggested that green tea and extracts of the beverage may have cancer-preventing abilities, possibly due to the tea's concentration of certain antioxidants -- compounds that help ward off cell damage that can lead to cancer, heart disease and other ills.

But exactly how green tea may act in the body to fight cancer is not clear. Lab research has suggested it can act in several ways -- from hindering tumors from forming their own blood supply to forcing abnormal cells to commit suicide.

The current study points to an entirely new mechanism, Rao told Reuters Health in an interview.

Green tea extract, he explained, appears to diminish cancer cells' invasiveness -- suggesting that it could be used in the early stages of cancer treatment.

One recent study found that green tea extract brought no benefit to men with advanced prostate cancer. But Rao said that any effects of the extract on cancer would probably occur in the early stages.

He and his colleagues are now conducting a clinical trial to see whether green tea extract can reduce the risk of bladder cancer recurrence in patients with a history of smoking, which is a risk factor for the disease.

Uncovering the details of how green tea may stymie cancer could help doctors figure out which patients are likely to benefit from treatment with extracts, Rao said. It may be possible to look for specific markers of actin remodeling and Rho activation in patients' urine to determine who is best suited for such therapy.

It's also possible, Rao said, that drinking green tea could reduce the risk of developing bladder cancer in the first place -- though no one knows how many cups a person would have to sip over a lifetime.

SOURCE: Clinical Cancer Research, February 15, 2005.

[The Willow Sword]

I have become quite the efficianado on green teas. Over the past 10+ years i have tried several varieties.

I love the high quality Oolong teas as someof them are dried with flowers like orchids and other florals to give them a real nice taste an fragrance when you steep them.
The White teas are great as well,,very light tasting.

the several hundred varieties and styles of green tea astound me and i like them all.

Here in Austin you can get a decent selection of high quality green teas from whole foods and a oriental medicine shop called Turtledragon. You wind up spending more money on the better stuff but it is well worth it.
I drink about 3 pots of the stuff a day. Great health benefits as the articles posted here suggest.

PEACE,,,TWS

[RAF]

Mao Feng green tea from HuangShan is really good too.


Yellow Mountain (Huangshan) Maofeng Green Tea comes from the Yellow Mountains in China, one of the most beautiful natural settings in the world. The Yellow Mountains are famous for their rolling fog, steep rock faces, hot springs and small mountain pines.

Yellow Mountain Maofeng is a green tea grown in the foothills of the Yellow Mountain range where it is almost always foggy and humid. It is considered one of China's most famous teas. The leaves are picked only in the spring when they are very young and only contain a bud and a single unfolding leaf. Only unbroken buds and leaves are processed for this tea.

http://www.tenren.com/yelmounmaofg.html

http://www.tenren.com/index.html

Green Tea Helps Reduce Red in Rosacea

Study Shows a Cream Extract From Green Tea Is Effective

By Peggy Peck
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Feb. 23, 2005 -- Green tea may be a safe and beneficial treatment for rosacea.

Green tea already is a favorite among fans of "natural" medicinal products. Now a cream made from an extract of freshly baked green tea leaves may be an effective treatment for a type of acne called papulopustular rosacea.

Women treated with the green tea extract cream had a 70% improvement in rosacea compared with women treated with a placebo says Tanweer Syed, MD, PhD, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of San Francisco, Calif., who developed the tea extract.

The study was presented at the American Academy of Dermatology meeting in New Orleans.

RosaceaRosacea is a common skin condition which develops in phases. Typically, it starts with a tendency to blush -- rosy cheeks or redness and swelling in the center of the face which can progress to papulopustular rosacea. Tiny pimples begin to appear in and around the red areas. Treatment can control the symptoms and prevent the condition from getting worse. Untreated, the condition can lead to chronic inflammation; the nose takes on the appearance of becoming red and enlarged.

Syed tested the green tea extract cream in 60 women aged 25 to 50. All had visible signs of rosacea with papules and pustules as well as redness and swelling.

Prior to starting treatment, and weekly after treatment began, photographs were taken of the women's faces.

Half of the women received the green tea extract cream and half received a placebo cream. The women applied the cream to their faces twice a day for four weeks.

At the end of four weeks, "marked beneficial improvement" was observed in both groups, say the researchers. However, treatment with the green tea extract resulted in significantly fewer facial inflammatory lesions than placebo treatment, says Syed. Clear, minimal or mild improvement of inflammation was seen in 70% of the women treated with the extract cream.

Syed says green tea extract cream was a natural choice for the rosacea because earlier research suggested that green tea extract has natural antiaging and antiacne properties.

"The green tea has a soothing quality that helps the redness," Syed says.

The difference in this product versus others on the market, he says, is that the green tea leaves are picked and used within five hours, before turning dark and fermenting.

Guy Webster, MD, vice chairman of dermatology at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, says the study involved only a small number of participants and more work needs to be done before the cream can be marketed. Webster was not involved in the study.

"However, these results are tantalizing. These women obviously had rosacea and blushing. There is not much you can do for this. But the faces were looking distinctively red and they are coming out not distinctively red," he says.

The study was 75% funded by Syed Skincare, Inc.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCES: 63rd Annual Meeting American Academy of Dermatology. Presented Feb. 20, 2005. Tanweer Syed, MD, PhD, associate professor of dermatology, University of San Francisco, Calif. Guy Webster, MD, vice chairman of dermatology, Jefferson Medical College.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

ironfist, northern practicioner, jodoe:

GNC has a poduct known as "Green Tea Extract". ground up tea leaves, boiled, sediment collected and uniformed then encapsulated. enjoy.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

Gwa Sow:

take favourite hand. make crane's beak. allow crane to taste dry tea leaves. let him spit them out into a big pot. add a gallon of water. apply western chi at medium flow for fourty five minutes of practice. stop chi kung immediately.

or just buy a box of lipton green tea. two bags for fourty minutes at medium heat per gallon.

whichever you taste. i taste Bojenmi herbal mix.

[Newb]

im visiting some tea plantation in china when im in hangzhou. supposedly it has some of the best tea in china. expensive too.
I always get suspicious when I hear things like that. I hope you don't get ripped off for some flavored tea. Then again, who knows! It could be some amazing kick ass tea!

[CrazyKiller]

Iron Fist,

If you drink the tea in the traditional "gung fu" manner, you will get all of the health benefits, as well as a pleasurable drinking experience. The stuff in tea bags is not the quality you want, however. The tea in bags is mostly ground up stuff. What you want is a more whole leaf tea, usually it is rolled. When you infuse with hot water, the leaves open up and the chemicals are extracted from the leaf.

Besides green tea, you could opt for a lightly oxidized oolong. These usually taste better and they have the same health benefits as the raw green tea.

BTW, the "gung fu" method uses a small Yixing clay pot filled about 1/4 with leaves. First brewing of tea should be discarded, in order to "wash" the leaves. This reduces the dust and pollutants. The next brewing, and following one or two more (depends) on the tea, should then be consumed.

Keep the tea leaves in an airtight, light-proof container, in a cool place.

Hope it helps.

[7 star Method]

I agree with Crazy Killer.
The tea with the highest anti oxidants is traditionally a top quality White tea, such as silver needle, I am telling you this stuff cleans you up and has a great light refreshing taste.
White Tea is very hard to make using "Kungfu" method, due to it having to be brewed over a three minutes to extract the flavor of the tea.
You cannot go wrong with a Green Tea such as a high quality "Dragon Well" or one of my favorites "Pouchong".
Crazy Killer, good to see another tea junky in the mist.

LF





Iron Fist,

If you drink the tea in the traditional "gung fu" manner, you will get all of the health benefits, as well as a pleasurable drinking experience. The stuff in tea bags is not the quality you want, however. The tea in bags is mostly ground up stuff. What you want is a more whole leaf tea, usually it is rolled. When you infuse with hot water, the leaves open up and the chemicals are extracted from the leaf.

Besides green tea, you could opt for a lightly oxidized oolong. These usually taste better and they have the same health benefits as the raw green tea.

BTW, the "gung fu" method uses a small Yixing clay pot filled about 1/4 with leaves. First brewing of tea should be discarded, in order to "wash" the leaves. This reduces the dust and pollutants. The next brewing, and following one or two more (depends) on the tea, should then be consumed.

Keep the tea leaves in an airtight, light-proof container, in a cool place.

Hope it helps. :) :)

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

there's a green tea parlor in palo alto that's near the college that is full of fairly expensive teas. do any of you know the jing i'm thinking of?

[CrazyKiller]

Greetings 7 Star Method,

"tea junky" is pretty accurate; I am drinking a pot of High Mountain Oolong right now. And I do "jones" when I even start running low on tea. I have dabbled with White Tea, but it didn't grab me in the way the High Mt. Oolong did. Maybe I'll give it another chance.

A funny story from quite a few years ago. I finish training with my kung fu teacher one day, and he invites me in for some refreshments. His wife brings out the tea, in a big thermos kind of thing. My teacher was from Northern China, a real traditional guy. When I look in the back of the thermos, it is brewed from about 4 Lipton tea bags :(
In my naivete, I expected he would be drinking some really great tea. In fact, Lipton tea was their daily stuff. On a few occasions, I drank some better tea with him--a nice light green tea brewed the traditional way. :)

[7 star Method]

I personally like all tea, from white tea to Pu-Erh. Have you tried Pouchong? It is between a Green Oolong and Green Tea, very good to say the least. Also, try "Dong Feng mei ren if you get the chance, it is considered a mistake, but literally a great - great tea.

LF

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

Chat Tsing:

what do you mean by a 'mistake'? like an genetic sport/variety from cross pollenation? or an accident from mixing leaves that turned out tasteful?

[FngSaiYuk]

Kinda cross posting this-http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35929

I don't remember exactly where, but I've run across the notion that 'sugaring up' green tea reduces it's benefits.

Does anyone have anything authorative on this?

[7 star Method]

what do you mean by a 'mistake'? like an genetic sport/variety from cross pollenation? or an accident from mixing leaves that turned out tasteful?

The mistake was in the fermentation and baking. It was a screw up, but once it was tasted many liked it. It was not accepted well within the Chinese community (still is referenced as "Bull ****" tea by many traditionalists) so it was being sold to Western merchants, which is how it received its name. The only catch is, If you aren't getting a good grade Don Feng Mei ren it is not worth drinking.

Tao-an

LF

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

Alright. i stand corrected.

the last box of bojenmi i just purchased tasted like charcoal and the tea was black and almost gross. so much for quality control. :o

the first case i baught was really nice....

[GeneChing]

I drink tea every day. Lately I've been into a premium green that I got in Zhengzhou last October and this one that was gifted to me from Master Chen Fei. The green is really nice, a subtler flavor then most greens, but very refereshing. The problem is it bitters quickly if overcooked or oversteeped. The gifted one is Tie Kuan Yin, which at first I wasn't that into, but it has grown on me and now I quite enjoy it - it has a nice nutty flavor that seems to go well with the morning newspaper, plus my kid delights in watching the leaves unfold.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

i had a friend when i was growing up (don't tell KL, he'll never believe you!) who's mom used that kind of tea to read her fortune with. i remember the flavour quite distinctly, still. :)

kid-wonder is always the best magic though. :)

[RAF]

Yahoo! Health
Have questions about your health?
Find answers here.

Green Tea May Curb Prostate Cancer in Men at Risk
Tue Apr 19, 4:13 PM ET

By Megan Rauscher

ANAHEIM, California (Reuters Health) - Compounds found in green tea may prevent the development of prostate cancer in men with a pre-cancerous condition called high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), researchers have shown.

"The sad truth is that close to 30,000 men will die from prostate cancer in the United States every year and, at present, prevention is the best way to fight it, Dr. Saverio Bettuzzi from the University of Parma in Italy told Reuters Health.

High-grade PIN progresses to invasive prostate cancer within a year in about 30 percent of men and no treatment is given to these men with high-grade PIN until prostate cancer is diagnosed.

Green tea catechins (GTCs) may be the answer, Bettuzzi said at the gathering of the American Association for Cancer Research here.

The investigator performed a trial involving men with high-grade PIN, who were given an inactive placebo preparation or one containing 600 milligrams of GTCs daily, "equivalent to 12-15 cups of green tea infusion, that is about two times the average intake in Asian countries."

Bettuzzi reported that, after a year, only 1 man among 32 in the GTC group developed prostate cancer, a rate of only 3 percent. In contrast, 9 out of 30 men treated with placebo developed prostate cancer, for the expected rate of 30 percent.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study showing that GTCs have potent in vivo chemoprevention activity for human prostate cancer," Bettuzzi noted.

"The interest in GTCs and other polyphenols -- antioxidants found in many plants -- derives from traditional Chinese medicine, but the Mediterranean diet is very rich in vegetables, thus providing high levels of polyphenols, and lower rates of prostate cancer are found in that region as well," he pointed out.

"There are other studies strongly suggesting that similar results could be obtained for prevention of other types of cancer. As a matter of fact, breast and colon cancer are possible targets. In the near future, we are supposed to start a collaborative trial involving both Italy and USA on this matter," Bettuzzi concluded.

[RAF]

Black Tea, Green Tea Good for Diabetes

In Rats, Black and Green Tea Lower Blood Sugar, Prevent Cataracts

By Daniel DeNoon
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, April 20, 2005

April 20, 2005 -- Both black teablack tea and green teagreen tea are good for diabetes, a rat study shows. They also prevent diabetic animals from developing cataracts.

The findings appear in the May 4 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

"Black and green tea represent a potentially inexpensive, nontoxic, and, in fact, pleasurable [blood-sugar-lowering] agent," the researchers write. "Tea may be a simple, inexpensive means of preventing or retarding human diabetes and the ensuing complications."

In the study, the researchers gave green and black teas to diabetic rats for three months.

They found both kinds of tea inhibited diabetic cataracts.cataracts. The teas also had a blood-sugar-lowering effect.

To get the same dose of tea given to the rats, a 143-pound person would have to drink 4.5 8-ounce cups of tea every day.

The researchers recommend that tea -- black and green -- should be studied for an antidiabetes effect in humans.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCES: Vinson, J. and Zhang, J. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, May 4, 2005, published online March 31, 2005. News release, American Chemical Society.

[kejia nu ren]

Even though green tea has shown to have many diverse health benefits, I think it's always good to practice moderation - after all is too much of one thing ever good for you?

My father's family has a history of diabetes and cholesterol problems - and for the past couple of years my dad has been putting Japanese Sencha pure green tea leaves on top of toast and eating it whole for breakfast :eek: (I know...EW weird) but over the past year his cholesterol has gone down, he's lost a decent amount of weight and his overall health seems to have improved.

Using actual tea leaves for consumption is nothing new. I've heard that in the old days, tea leaves were used in many recipes in China (i.e. soup)...and as someone on this thread already mentioned, the Japanese Matcha is the powdered form of tea leaves that is consumed entirely.

If I'm not mistaken, the chemical composition of tea leaves contain only a small percentage of compounds that are water soluble. So although drinking water steeped in green tea has many benefits, the leaves themselves have many additional benefits that the average green tea drinker misses out on by throwing out the leaves. At least - this is what my dad tells me when I tell him eating tea leaves w/ toast is gross :o

[7 star Method]

Try this.

Take some Green Tea and place it in Gaiwan about 1/4 full. Fill with water just until the leaves are submerged. Enjoy and Drink. Do this once again.
Take some soy sauce and sprinkle the cooked leaves and eat them up - good stuff.

Tao-an :)

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

got bored this weekend 'cause no one wanted to discuss the baitball i dropped overboard last week and went into research on tea sources via the web.

when you guys say 'a good variety' of x tea, what exactly do you mean?

there's all kinds of tea available in china. some of it actually makes it to the states. retail products can be identified from source farms all the way throu the system of markets if you can read chinese. my problem: one of you said "a good dragon well"...the fukin **** is 106 bucks :eek: per 500grams! plus shipping. with minimum weights to ship. not only that, but there are nine grades of dragon well. would you fine hair-splitting gentlemen please enlighten this slightly bewildered novice and be more specific? :confused:

where exactly does Pu'er get compressed? is that a san franciscan imposition on tea culture? none of the pu'er is compressed in the chinese markets yet the same leaves are available in portland in a compressed nugget or mini cake form-?-

[RAF]

Early hope seen for green tea in fighting leukemia By Amy Norton
1 hour, 17 minutes ago

Green tea may help treat a form of adulthood leukemia, if the cases of four patients are any indication, according to a new report.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found that of four patients who started drinking green tea or taking green tea extracts, three showed clear improvements in their condition in the following months.

The patients all had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, a form of leukemia that usually arises during or after middle-age and typically progresses slowly. Like all types of leukemia, CLL is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, in which abnormal white blood cells replace healthy blood cells.

What's particularly interesting about these four cases, according to Dr. Tait Shanafelt, is that the patients all started using green tea on their own last year, after hearing media reports about a lab study Shanafelt and his colleagues conducted.

That study showed that one compound found in green tea, known as EGCG, was able to kill cancer cells that were taken from CLL patients and put in a test tube with the tea compound.

After the findings were published, the doctors became aware of four CLL patients at their center who had started using green tea products and seemed to be doing better.

In interviewing the patients and reviewing their records, the doctors found that three showed signs of a regression in their cancer after they started to drink green tea or take green tea capsules. The fourth had an improvement in her white blood cell count, though her disease remained unchanged by standard criteria.

In one case, the patient had been showing progressive swelling in her lymph nodes - one of the characteristics of CLL - before she starting taking green tea capsules twice a day. Over the next year, her lymph nodes steadily decreased in size, according to findings published online by the journal Leukemia Research.

Another patient showed an improvement in her white blood cell count after she started drinking eight cups of green tea per day.

These cases alone cannot prove that green tea or its extracts conferred the benefits, Shanafelt told Reuters Health.

An answer to that question, he said, awaits the outcome of an ongoing clinical trial he is leading. The study, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, is testing the effects of a purified EGCG extract in treating CLL.

For now, Shanafelt said, there are many unknowns. For example, the researchers don't know how many CLL patients might have tried green tea products and failed to improve. Nor is it clear what doses patients should take, or whether high doses over a long period could have side effects.

A number of previous studies have suggested that green tea and extracts of the beverage have cancer-fighting abilities, possibly due to the tea's concentration of certain antioxidants - compounds that help ward off cell damage that can lead to cancer, heart disease and other ills.

EGCG is thought to be the most potent of these tea antioxidants. The Mayo study from last year suggested that EGCG might induce leukemia cells to self-destruct by interfering with the communication signals they need to survive. But the exact mechanism by which green tea may fight cancer remains unclear.

SOURCE: Leukemia Research, online December 1, 2005.

[GeneChing]

I forgot about this thread. I've been posting on the general tea thread here (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49674-Tea). As a green tea aficionado, I'll start posting here again.


Matcha tea is the latest ‘superfood’ — here’s why you should beware of knockoff versions (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-japanese-would-never-use-this-popular-superfood-knockoff-why-2016-4)
Ruchika Agarwal 8h

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If you've heard the buzz about the "superfood" health benefits of matcha, a type of powdered green tea, you might want to read on.

China is known to produce knockoffs for almost every kind of popular product imaginable, and they do it so well that sometimes even the employees at the knockoff stores believe it's the real deal.

So it's no surprise that when Japanese matcha tea grew in popularity, China began to export its own version as Chinese "matcha" green tea powder. However, the Chinese version, while cheaper and more accessible, is not the perfect substitute for Japanese matcha.

What makes Japanese matcha tea popular — as well as its knockoff versions — are its alleged health benefits. Like traditional green tea, matcha contains a compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). But its levels are typically much higher in match than in traditional tea. A 2003 study, for example, found that matcha had three times more EGCG than most traditional green teas.

A series of preliminary Mayo Clinic studies showed promise for the potential use of EGCG in reducing the number of cancer cells in patients with a specific type of cancer: chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Research on green tea in people with other forms of cancer has been too limited to say for sure how beneficial it is. Other studies have suggested EGCG may play a role in maintaining heart and metabolic health, and still others — though limited and typically in cells, not people — suggest its anti-inflammatory properties could be beneficial for people with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

How is matcha made?

"Matcha" translates into "powdered tea" and is exactly that — steamed and air-dried green tea leaves that are stone-ground into super-fine powder. Traditionally, tea is made by steeping tea leaves in hot or boiling water for a few minutes and then discarding them. With matcha tea, however, the fine powder is stirred into hot, not boiling, water until it froths. Then the entire beverage — ground leaves and all — is consumed.

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While tea-powdering is believed to have originated in China with a Buddhist monk in around 1191 CE, the farming techniques for matcha were refined and perfected over several centuries in Japan. Preparing Japanese matcha is an intricate process which has been part of Japanese culture for nearly 800 years. In Japan, tea leaves are grown in the shade to preserve its green color, and dried quickly to prevent them from long exposure with oxygen, which can dull the earthy flavor.

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chinalife Tea House/Youtube

Chinese "matcha" only approximates these farming techniques: Chinese tea leaves are not generally grown in the shade, and are "pan-fried" to stop oxidation. As a result, Chinese "matcha" does not froth as much and its texture is more sandy.

Additionally, the soil in Japan, specifically Ise and Uji, and South West China are have different characteristics, which are also believed have an impact on the tea.

Chinese teas have also come under fire for their potential toxicity. In 2013, the environmental organization Greenpeace randomly tested 18 Chinese green tea samples, and found that 12 of them contained banned pesticides. Japanese matcha tea, on the other hand, abide by more stringent standards on use of pesticides.

As a result of these differences, Japanese matcha tea can be pricier than the Chinese versions. An ounce of Japanese matcha can range from $26-$32, whereas Chinese "matcha" tea can cost as little as $7/ounce.

The process of growing and harvesting the tea is what makes Japanese matcha. So it may be worth the extra cash, to reap the full benefits of matcha's flavor, history, and quality.

Worthy of note, I seldom drink matcha. I enjoy it, but prefer Chinese loose leaf.