It’s no longer a secret that tea is good for you. In scientific studies, tea’s been shown to affect metabolism, the cardiovascular system, the immune system, dental health, and more. However, if you’re drinking tea for its health benefits, you may be surprised to find that teabag or that ready made tea in a bottle has little positive health impact. If you want the most bang for your buck towards making changes in your health, reach for the loose leaf tea!

The tea plant (camellia sinensis) is loaded with powerful phytochemicals. The phytochemicals are what scientists mostly study when measuring tea’s effect on the body. The essential oil of the plant carries and contains the vital phytochemicals. The fresher the leaf, the more essential oils will be present. The more essential oils, the more health benefits from the phytonutrients.

The down side of having tea in a teabag is generally because the tea that is used is literally the bottom of the barrel in quality—known in the tea industry as “dust and fannings”. These are very fine particulates of tea. There’s no way of knowing how long those fannings have been sitting around before being put into a teabag, and no knowing how long those filled teabags have been sitting in a box in the warehouse or store shelf. These fine particulates are exposed to a lot more air for longer periods of time, loosing most of their essential nutrients. Normally what results is a very stale tea with little taste and effect.

Bottled teas often times have very little actual tea, contain poor quality tea, and can be loaded with sweeteners. Neither is going to do much for you as far as health benefits.

Fine quality, loose leaf tea on the other hand is a whole world of difference! Because the tea is still in whole leaf form and normally used within a year of its crop picking, the essential oils and phytonutrients are a great deal higher. Drinking loose tea throughout the day and with meals gives maximum potential for positive health effects.

One cup of really good loose tea is all it takes to experience the difference! The flavor is full, layered, and intricate. Much like wine, tea has many varieties, flavors, subtleties, and incites excitement when discovered. The more you love it, the more you’ll drink it, the better your chances you’ll feel the difference in your life!

What benefits have you experienced by including tea in your diet?

I had a vivid dream last night that I was in the grocery store, picking out fresh strawberries, some pound cake slices, and a can of whipped cream. Needless to say, I woke up with a craving. The rest of the dream is a blur by now, but I can still smell those strawberries and cream!

So what did I do with my craving? Got to the tea shop and whipped up a blend to sip on of our strawberry green tea with some of our vanilla cream black tea—voila! Hit the spot! Guilt free to boot :)

We do this quite frequently at the shop actually. One of us gets a crazy taste for something and it becomes a challenge we drive to conquer. Many of our Special House Blends came about from cases just like this, such as our Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Yorktown Patty, and Cinnablue Brunch.

What a great way to satisfy a craving—good for you, flavorful, calorie free, hydrating, nurturing. What do you want to create for your taste buds today?