Saturday! How I love thee. :)
I wasn’t always a huge green tea fan like I am today.
When I first started drinking green tea, I thought it was bitter and not overly enjoyable.
Green tea is an acquired taste much like wine; after time, you begin to appreciate the flavour and enjoy experimenting among different types. As I drank it more, my love for green tea grew and grew.
I also started to do a lot of reading about green tea because I wanted to know everything I could about it. I turned to one of my favourite books called ‘Foods That Fight Cancer‘ by Drs. Beliveau and Gingras.
What is so good about green tea?
- It is green ;)
- Flavanols, more commonly known as catechins, make up 1/3 of the weight of a tea leaf. Catechins are thought to be the compound responsible for the anti-cancer activity in green tea.
- Catechins possess anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties that allow the plant to resist invasion by a large number of pathogens.
- The most important catechin in green tea is known as EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate- now you know why they abbreviated it!) as it has the highest anti-cancer activity of all.
- It contains 4 times less caffeine than black tea
- Tea can become the ‘soul’ of one’s diet, representing a daily symbol of relaxation, meditation, and good health.
Not all green tea is created equal:
- The catechin content of green tea varies widely based on the type, area of cultivation, diversity of the plants used, harvest season, and processing techniques. Just because it says green tea on the label does not mean that it will possess high amounts of catechins.
- Further, the brewing time of the tea largely influences the final catechin content.
How do I know what types of green tea are good to drink?
- As a general rule, Japanese green teas have a much higher EGCG content than Chinese green teas.
[Source]
As you can see, Japanese green teas are superior in their EGCG concentration as compared to Chinese green teas. I always purchase Sencha because it is difficult to find Gyokuro and Sencha-Uchiyama tea in my area.
This is the 4’Oclock loose leaf Japanese Sencha tea that I am in love with.
In summary:
- Select Japanese green tea whenever possible
- Allow your tea to steep for 8-10 minutes which favours the extraction of catechins
- Drink freshly brewed tea whenever possible
Now that I have been drinking green tea for about 8-9 years, I couldn’t imagine not drinking it. I probably drink about 6-7 cups a day now! I also drink lots of herbal tea (Chamomile, lavender, and peppermint tea, etc) in the evening.
Little known fact: I often drink chilled green tea while working out as I find that it gives me a bit of extra kick!
Are you a tea lover or coffee lover? Why or why not? What types do you drink?
Eric and his family are the ones who got me drinking regular black tea. My mother in law is Irish and my father in law is English and they both grew up drinking tea. Eric used to get chilled tea in a bottle as a baby!! Apparently it is very common in Ireland…crazy, eh? I never liked black tea as much as Green tea though. I love how green tea makes me feel- healthy and energized.
I’ve never drank a cup of coffee in my life. I don’t have anything against coffee at all, I just got hooked on tea first and never yearned for anything else.
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I’m off to eat my new favourite hot breakfast:
I’m calling it cake because it is just that good. Exhibit A: Cake Batter.
I discovered it is also awesome COLD right out of the fridge. I had it for dessert one night and it was so yummy.
I’m making my next overnight batch on Sunday and will pop them in the oven early Monday morning. I’m thinking apple pie and pumpkin pie…yum! I’m going to play around with the nut to oat ratio too and will report back with my new recipes.
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Ron White Charity Shoe Drive
On the way to our in laws today, we are dropping off a bag of shoes for Ron White’s Charity Shoe Drive. If you are in the GTA and have gently worn shoes/boots, please consider donating them for those in need. It is a bone chilling (-16C/4F) today so please consider helping those in need of warm feet.
Even if you aren’t in the GTA, you can always drop off shoes to your local charity drop box!
Will blog from the in laws. Going to workout this big, strong heart and be rewarded with happy endorphins in return.
In my next post, I will be talking about how my first day of NOT multitasking went…OH BOY! lol
I have 2 cups of coffee in the morning and that is it, but if I’m cold or trying to avoid mindless snacking or not feeling good I have peppermint tea. I love it, and it is caffeine free. I especially love it freshly brewed from my Keurig…mmmm.
Courtney
adventures in tri-ing
I love green tea – I keep a jug in the fridge most of the time. That breaky looks delish!
Hi Angela – good to know – Japenese! I have been drinking Tazo China Green Tips – time to change! You’re lucky you never got hooked on coffee – it is highly addictive and terrible for the liver. I was an AVID coffee addict, worked for Starbucks even. Last spring when I finally found an awesome Naturopath, who helped me with all my ailments, I learned from him how toxic coffee is on the body, liver and immume system :( He said tea is ok as its not the caffeine that is the issue – its the other alkaloids in coffee. On days where I have cheated and had a java in the am, my anxiety level shoots up and I cannot fall asleep at night. The “high” feels good for a bit but ugh the rest I can do without. I read some medical journals, to learn more about the alkaloids – if I remember correctly, they say they are the same chemical makeup/have the same effect as psychoactive drugs. This is more than you needed to know I’m sure but for my other fellow bloggers drinking coffee, kick it if u can. Takes time but like Angela said, you eventually acquire a love of tea and it is wonderful!
oops! ImmuNe(sp) system that is ;)
I love how you say flavonols, better known as catechins. I’ve never heard of catechins. And your cake batter just sounds ‘right’. Great breakfast!
I absolutely LOVE green tea, and this post just reminded me that I don’t drink enough of it! When I am home all day in the summer, I definitely do … but when I am at work I just don’t think about it.
I am going in to work today and I am going to bring a thermos of green tea that my friend brought me back from South Korea. He is a tea guru and has studied tea with different tea masters from around the world.
I drink a cup of black coffee every morning, but am just fine if I miss it one day. I love the taste though – mmmmm, fresh black coffee!!
The reason that you found green tea bitter at first may because you weren’t (and still aren’t? As you didn’t say anything in your post about it) brewing it right…
You aren’t supposed to make it with boiling water, you’re supposed to let the water cool down a bit first. I think for Sencha you want the water to be around 80 degrees (centigrade) before adding it to the tea. Otherwise it does get overly bitter.
Almost all tea that I’ve bought over here (in Japan!) has this written on it, but it never seems to in the West.
Apologies if you already knew this! It is really so much nicer made with non-boiling water though. Japanese people have kettle type things which actually heat the water to the ideal tea making temperature (and keep it there for as long as you want, so you can make cup after cup of perfect tea if you want to)
Just checked a Japanese tea site and it said 70 degrees, oops.
So glad you mentioned this!!!! I meant to include this in my write up, but forgot. I never never boil the tea before making green…I read this too a few years ago. I think you are right though- I do think that is why I found it bitter before.
Oh good! I didn’t like it when I first had it either for the same reason!
I recently started drinking green tea and while I kind of like it now, I definitely prefer black tea. Trader Joe’s English Breakfast or Typhoo Decaf are my favorites!
I adore green tea, but I didn’t really drink it these past few months. Got to get some good leaves :)
I grew up drinking black tea. When my sister and I were kids we used it have it with our babysitter, always with milk and sugar. Now i can drink it black but sometimes it’s nice with a little honey/milk.
I’ve also like green tea for a while too. I’m a huge Japanese food fan, and there’s always green tea being served. I think the first time i tried it i was pretty indifferent. I remember it tasting like weird water. But now i love it.
Coffee has been more of an acquired taste for me. I remember the first time i tried the black coffee my mom was drinking i almost gagged. But this summer my coworkers got me coffee a couple times during late night work sessions and now i am definitely a fan.
So i like to switch up what I’m drinking whether it’s black or herbal tea, or coffee :)
interesting info on the tea! I’m not really a tea person. Some of it literally makes me gag. I can handle cinnamon and citrus flavors but not much more than that. but I LOVE my coffee :) too bad there aren’t any health benefits that come from chugging espresso
I really need to drink more green tea. Wonderful post!
I used to be a coffee drinker but since I’ve discovered green tea, I’ve been hooked, too. Recently I tried matcha and boy, is it addictive! I’ve had the oat pudding-cake cold, too, and really enjoy it that way. The pumpkin variation sounds stellar! And can’t wait to hear about your non-multi tasking ;)
I am a coffee lover. And probably addict. I drink 1-2 cups a day (and more on holidays!). I usually just have it with a bit of milk, and honestly I LOVE the taste. I don’t really know how big a difference it makes in me energy wise. I’m actually more careful about drinking coffee because it has so much caffein.
I love drinking tea! I am trying to switch over my morning coffee habit to tea because of all of the yummy varieites out there!
Green tea is my fav. I drink it all the time!
Side note, I have been following your blog for quite some time and really love it. You seem to have such a healthy and positive attitude toward food. I would love to have the same attitude. I exercise regularly and eat healthy during the day but I tend to over-eat at night. If I have 1 bite of something sweet, I need to have 10 bites. It is a vicious cycle! Any advice? thanks.
I drink it all!! I am a fan of subtle green teas or green teas laced with more fruity flavors. I cannot do the “minty” or “lemongrassy” green tea — the smell is overwhelming to me and the taste is not something I find completely unpalatable. However — I lurrrve green tea. I often forget about its caffeine content though as I’ve many a night lay awake because I decided to brew some tea at 10pm…haha
oops **palatable :) my bbbbb
My dad was Irish and I would get Irish breakfast tea in my sippie cups!!! All my cousins drank tea like water when we grew up.
I find I crave tea more often than coffee now- I think I need to wean myself off the java- my body is telling me to do it!
I’m a massive green tea fan. I didn’t like it growing up since I was obsessed with black tea and sugar but now I will never go back. I always loved Chinese tea and Japanese is just as tasty. Thanks for showing that chart! I’ll definitely try the Sencha now.
I love green tea! I drink it in so many forms. My favorite is peppermint green tea.