How to Properly Brew Your Tea

Our forefathers may have dumped it into Boston Harbor, but tea is still a part of many Americans’ lifestyle.

Brewing tea, like most enjoyable things in life is very much a personal experience. Whether using tea bags or loose leaf teas, the brewing process is very similar and involves several things: type of tea, strength desired and water taste and temperature, to name a few.

Water is one of the important aspects. If you do not like the taste of the water from your tap, don’t use it to brew tea. Filtered or bottled water will suit you much better. If you are using tap water, use cold water because hot water heaters can add contaminants that may affect the taste.

Water temperature also plays a big role when brewing tea. Most tea can actually be brewed with boiling water, but some teas are not quite as robust as others and would like a little consideration for their delicacy. Black and herbal teas are the most robust and can be steeped in boiling water. Green and white teas will burn and produce a bitter taste with boiling water, so it works best to let the boiling water stand at room temperature for 1-2 minutes before adding to the tea. Oolong tea falls between green and black tea and should be brewed at about 190 degrees.

The chart given below is meant merely as a guideline, please experiment and decide for your self what you like.

Green 160 degrees 2-4 minutes

White 180 degrees 4-7 minutes

Oolong 190 degrees 2-8 minutes

Black Tea Boiling water 4-6 minutes

Herbal Teas Boiling water 4-8 minutes

When trying a new tea, taste it frequently as it steeps. Allow that first cup to steep until it is either too bitter or too strong. Make a note of the time that it tasted the best to you on the package and you’ll consistently have your perfect cup of tea.

If you have never brewed loose leaf tea, you might want to consider giving it a try. The brewing procedure itself is part of the experience of a gourmet tea.

Whether you are using grandma’s heirloom China teapot or the sleekest looking French Press, the procedure is pretty much the same. With the French Press you can watch the leaves rise and unfurl, to release the color from the leaves. This can be a very soothing experience.…

Senna Herbal Tea – A Solution For Constipation

In some countries, drinking tea is a custom or a tradition but slowly, tea is being served all over the world. This is because of the health benefits that tea has. There are different teas that are available in the market and also have different functions. For now, we will be focusing on Senna; an herb that has the ability to cleanse and purify the body of different toxins.

Senna can also be used as a laxative and it is comparable to other laxatives that are being sold in the market because it is healthier and more natural. Most of the laxatives now contain chemicals and can be dangerous to use if the consumer takes more than is required. This doesn’t mean though that Senna can be overdosed. It is still important to read the prescriptions carefully and just take what is required.

Senna herbal tea can be used on a daily basis and what it does is it actually regulates the bowel movement of people taking it. This is recommended for people who are constipated most of the time. Apart from this, it also has the ability to make the person feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

Since some people tend to lose weight because of their bowel movement, some people use Senna herbal tea as a weight loss alternative. It has to be clear however that the number one use of the tea is to help in bowel movement and not to lose a few pounds. Losing some weight is possible only if you would mix in exercise and a healthy food plan to drinking Senna herbal tea.

Senna herbal tea is available online. Some reminders though for those who are interested that even though it is natural, it is still a very strong herb and remember that too much of it can be bad for you. Another is when buying this herbal tea make sure that the sellers say that they have not used any kind of pesticides on their herbs because the tea is more effective if it has not been slathered on with any kind of pesticides.…

How to Start Exercising With Diabetes

Diabetes management has a lot of layers, and it can be overwhelming. Exercising with diabetes may be one of the hardest things to start, because your diabetes can actually get in the way of some of your exercise. However, it’s also one of the most important things for you to do to stay healthy. Here are some tips for getting started.

Unfortunately, having diabetes can put some constraints on what exercises you can do. The first step is to talk to your doctor or diabetes educator about what kinds of exercises are best for you. They can let you know what exercises will be best for you based on the condition of your heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, feet and nervous system.

Once you know what activities you can do, make a list of the ones that work best with your lifestyle, and then plan where they will fit into your life. Start working those activities into your life gradually, but make sure they are at least somewhat challenging even as you work yourself up to the activities.

It’s important to check your blood glucose levels before and after exercise, especially in the beginning. Track how your glucose levels respond to exercise. Being aware of this can help you to avoid blood sugar highs and lows. You should be aware that exercise can make high blood glucose go higher, so it may not be a good idea to exercise if your blood sugar is above 300. On the other hand, if levels are normal or low, physical activity can make them go lower either while you exercise or shortly after. Make sure to adjust by eating a snack before you exercise if this happens to you. Make sure to get your blood glucose levels up before you exercise if they are below 70. Talk to your diabetes educator or doctor about the best ways to make sure that you’re ready to exercise on a glucose level.

Make sure that you have plenty of water with you when you exercise, and take snacks – carbohydrates – with you (especially if you’re going out of your house) so that you can cope with low blood glucose quickly if you need to. It’s also a good idea to wear your medical ID tag with you in case of an emergency.

Above all, make sure to track your progress. Being motivated to deal with all of this can be difficult, but if you can find ways to see how much it’s helping, it will make it easier for you to stay consistent.…

Living Well With Diabetes – Tips For New Diabetics

Living well with diabetes is essential so that you can avoid the complications that are associated with this terrible disease, there are a number of tips for new diabetics that should be implemented to achieve good health.

When you are first diagnosed with diabetes there are many emotions you will encounter, please understand that these are normal and that you are not alone. Following are some of these emotions:

Denial – when you are first diagnosed you will feel denial; this is normal and is a way that your body copes with the diagnosis. You need to realise that if your denial goes on for a long period of time it can become serious, so you need to talk to your family and friends so that you can get through this feeling of denial

Anxiety – Finding out you have diabetes will make you very anxious which will cause you sleepless nights and this is not good for diabetics, sleep is one of the main aspects of managing diabetes. Try to take time out and relax as much as you can so that you can avoid being anxious

Grief – this feeling is normal as you feel a sense of loss, the loss of a healthy life, knowing that your life has now changed is not easy, make sure that you have support around you

Shock – This is when you will be asking yourself “how can this be happening to me?” They must have got the results wrong. These feelings can last a few hours or days, but you need to realise that these feelings can show up later on down the track as well, please keep an eye on this

Fear – The fear of having a disease that you know nothing about can be very scary

Depression – this is the feeling of sadness and a feeling of being helpless. Depression can be treated and should not be ignored as it can lead to serious outcomes

Living well with diabetes is something that you should aim for and following are some tips for new diabetics that can be helpful:

The most important part of your management plan is to implement a healthy well balanced diet and regular exercise

Make sure that you eat at the same time each day at regular intervals

Drink plenty of water each day

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables each day

Always choose lean meats

Always choose the low fat variety of all food products

Try to limit your salt intake

Try to limit your alcohol intake

Avoid processed foods at all times

Avoid foods that are high in saturated fats, and

Include the right amount of carbohydrate, proteins and fats in your diet

Living well with diabetes can be achieved when you implement the above tips for new diabetics so that you can achieve optimal health once more.…