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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

White Tea, my immune system & flouride...

It is that time of year again - tea time. For me when it starts to get colder outside I find myself guzzling teas all day in an attempt to keep my body temperature up. I love herbal blends but, my favourite all time hot thing to drink is White Tea. A lot of people drink green but I find it to be a little bitter for my taste.

White tea is made from immature tea leaves that are picked shortly before the buds have fully opened. The tea takes its name from the silver/white fuzz that still covers the buds, which turns white when the tea is dried. Tea leaves destined to be sold as white tea undergo less processing than any other type of tea (including green). Instead of air-drying, the unwithered leaves are merely steamed. Studies have indicated that White Tea is even better for you than Green. Because it is not processed heavily White Tea's health benefits
are greater than any other type. Rich in antioxidants, white tea has proven greater cancer-fighting ability than even green tea. White teas are known to boost the immunes system, helping to fight viruses and infection-causing bacteria - BUT what a lot of people don't know is that White Tea does contain fluoride - which I try to avoid because I have had problems with my thyroid gland.

"
The tea plant, Camellia sinensis, naturally absorbs fluoride from the environment more effectively than other plants. And as it ages, more fluoride is absorbed by the leaves, so the younger leaves have less fluoride than the older leaves. In practical terms, this means white tea (which is only very young leaves) has less fluoride than green, black or oolong teas, which include older leaves (Herbal teas do not contain any Camellia sinensis leaves and have almost no fluoride to speak of)."

If you are concerned a few things you can do to reduce the amount of fluoride in your tea...

  • Buy good quality LOOSE leaf teas (a lot of fluoride is contained in "tea dust" in the bags of cheaper teas)
  • Drink more White - which has the least amount of flouride - than green/oolong/black - or choose Herbal "teas" (which technically don't contain tea leaves so aren't tea but, you get my drift) which have no fluoride.
  • Buy Japanese teas - which contain less flouride (absorbed into the teas from the soil - Japanese have less!)
There have been dozens of studies done on the health benefits of White/Green teas so I feel in moderation drinking White tea is beneficial even with the fluoride. I've posted a link to a terrific website which has loads of info.

http://www.heavenoftea.com/tag/studies/





Friday, October 22, 2010

Hunter Moon - Full Moon In Aries.

Full moon in Aries which is pushing all signs to seek truth. You might be especially feeling the effects of this moon if you are a cardinal sign (Aries, Libra, Capricorn or Cancer). This full moon helps us to release the energy of something that has come to an end. With the old energy gone we are able to focus on new more positive things that are coming into our lives. In terms of relationships with others we are reminded that people come and go and not to walk in other people's shadows but, rather to forge your own paths. Watch out for people (and even animals) to be acting more aggressively over the next few days - arguments, mood swings and the like. It is a good time to reflect on what our purpose is.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Allergies I'm scent-sitive.


Sorry I've been away so long. I've been struggling with some health/life issues lately so I've been consumed by that. I have switched back eating high raw instead of all raw now that fall is underway. At first I was feeling healthier but, now I'm noticing my immune system seems to be weakened again. I had almost forgotten how much certain chemicals/scents effect me because my immune system was so strong after my Juice feast that those issues just went away (I was even cuddling my parents cats!). So the scoop I have been having to expose myself daily for the past few months to an air borne allergen that finally knocked me on my butt this Monday. I had been having headaches, sniffles, coughing (usual stuff) but, on Monday my throat started to swell - I couldn't swallow and was having problems breathing - for anyone who has had this happened you know how scary this can be. My doctor described it well. She says when you have an air borne allergy to something like say a certain scented fabric softener. The first time you are exposed it is sort of like someone who has a milk allergy and consumes a bit by mistake - you are uncomfortable for maybe an hour with some bloating or indigestion so it isn't too bad (I sneeze and maybe have a bit of a headache), but if you sit down and decide to eat several bowls of ice cream and top it off by guzzling down a jug of milk you are probably going to end up in the emergency room. Me exposing myself to this allergen daily for months finally put my body in a state of toxic overload. Luckily I have a very good employer who is doing everything in his power to help me stay healthy - our office is a scent free zone but things like this are difficult to enforce. He is trying and so am I so back to my juice and a pure/pure diet - it works - I know it does. The reason I decided to write about it is because I wanted to say I this - I know it is hard but, if you are having similar problems - say something and keep saying something. Don't do what I did and stay at your desk trying to put up with it because you don't want to cause anymore waves - if saying something isn't working walk away. It may not make you very popular with your coworkers but, you don't want to end up at the doctor's office or in the emergency room unable to breathe or swallow - not fun! Sooo the next few posts I think will be about my attempts to coax my immune system back into being strong.
j

Friday, October 08, 2010

Canadian Thanksgiving


This weekend is Canadian thanksgiving check out my posts from last year for nutloaf, pumpkin pie and a few other tasty things (in the recipe section - top of the page). I'll be posting the results of my apple cider vinegar - turned out faboo!! I have photos too.

Recipes