Tea for me!

Well Girls, now, you will see a cup of tea. Ta dah! What is more, it is a cup of tea which I have drunk and enjoyed. Tra, la, lah, la . . ! As long as it is green, tea is now my new favourite thing. Since Sunday, there has been a new ritual at Little Palace d'Essjay and that is two mugs of green tea for moi, a day. Many of you may be surprised as I have spoken before about the fact that I only drink tap water (and very little of that) on a day to day basis. Yet within four days, there has been a complete turnaround. I love my green tea and I can not imagine living a day without drinking it. Now, this may sound a little dramatic. It is early days but the green tea really has made a difference to the way I have felt. For me, there has certainly been more of an immediate and obvious change then what I feel the multivitamins or the Evening Primrose Oil or the Cod Liver Oil achieved. In short, I have been bouncing around these last few days. I've heard about Green tea before but it was BelleDuJour NYC's recent video, http://www.youtube.com/user/BelleDuJourNYC#p/u/9/IGemLmAmlGg , which inspired my new daily routine. Dara claims it is her no 1 beauty and health secret. She says that it makes her skin so vibrant. Well, I had to try. To be honest, I slurped and swallowed those first awkward few mouthfuls on Sunday with my skin, in mind. However although it seems to have done my skin no harm, the real difference I feel is in my mood and energy for life. I've been skipping around from the moment that I had that first mug on Sunday. At first, it tasted revolting. However by Monday, I could feel the difference and this compensated for the gritty taste and now I don't really taste the tea at all. It is just that warm aftertaste (and feeling) that I crave. Apart from the intitial taste, the only other low point was that I felt slightly nauseous on Monday. This may have been the shock of the caffiene in my system- apparently green tea can have more caffiene then coffee or it could have been my stomach suddenly having to cope with the fact that I was actually drinking something which is quite unusual for me! The nausea has now passed and I look forward to my green tea. Apparently there are lots of other benefits of drinking green tea. I don't understand it all yet but apparently it is packed with antioxidants which can rid our bodies of the toxic byproducts 'free radicals' which can benefit all areas of our life from beauty to health. Some studies even suggest it can help with cancer. Then of course, there are some who believe it can help in weight control. Again something possibly to do with the antioxidants boosting metabolism which means you burn more calories doing the normal things you normally do or something . . ! I do want to find out more about all these long term benefits but for now, it is enough that this tea just makes me feel good. If you want to find out more about green tea, you might find these references a good starting point: University of Maryland Medical Center http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm Beauty Brains http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/04/10/is-red-tea-good-for-your-face-2/ An article about tea http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tao-of-tea EHowHealth on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYnjifWDot8 I purchased my Birt&Tang Organic Green Tea (20 bags) from TKMaxx for less then £2. Oh and Girls, if you do decide to have a cup then please read all the warnings and disclaimers with your product. As great as it is for me, Green tea is not necessarily suitable (or safe) for everybody. So have you tried green tea or any other exotic beverages (if it is not tap water then as far as I'm concerned, it is exotic!)? I'd love to hear your suggestions and comments. I'm not sure about Nettle(!) Tea. Ooh and look out, the next post will be my 100th since the mission began!!! X