Tea: The Rise of a Healthy Beverage

Legend has it that the tea leaf was first discovered for human use in 2737 BC by the Chinese Emperor Sheng Nung. Emperor Nung was very careful to protect his body from illness, so he would only drink water that had been boiled. One day, the Emperor sat unknowingly under a patch of tea trees. A gust of wind blew two leaves and a bud into the Emperor’s cup while he wasn’t looking, and the gift of tea was first known.

While it may seem that there are countless varieties and species of tea in the world, all the many forms actually come from only one plant - camellia sinensis. The differences are generated in how the tea leaves are grown, when they are harvested, and how they are processed. Without getting into too much detail, a patch of green tea becomes a cup of black tea through an oxidation process in which catechins are oxidized and polymerized to form theaflavins and thearubigens, which account for the more bitter and astringent taste. Ooling is formed through a similar process, but the tea is only fermented for half the amount as black tea. White tea is differentiated by the time of its harvest, when the tea leaves are still young and haven’t developed to the size of a standard green tea leaf. While the Western world has primarily consumed black tea throughout history, green tea and other varieties are now becoming more popular, along with an increased interest in the many health benefits that tea has to offer.

The health benefits of tea are vast and wide-ranging. Studies have shown tea and its active components to have many benefits in treating cancer, cardiovascular disease, weight gain, diabetes, as well as general disease prevention through the promotion of the immune system.
One great property of tea is its high amounts of the popular compounds known as anti-oxidants, which are important in disease prevention. Anti-oxidants prevent the oxidation of lipids in our bodies by sequestering scavenging oxygen species and free radicals. Unchecked or unbalanced oxidation of such species over time can lead to a disease state. While all the various forms of tea do contain anti-oxidants, the highest levels are generally found in green tea…the fresher the better!
The majority of research into the health benefits of tea has centered around a group of compounds called flavanoids, and more specifically, catechins. These catechins are naturally very rich in anti-oxidants. As oxidative damage is an important step in cancer development, catechins can possibly aid in preventing the normal cell from becoming malignant. One intersting study demonstrated this as green tea catechins inhibited cigarette smoke induced DNA breakage in cultured lung cells by blocking production of oxygen free radicals. Tea flavanoids can also be beneficial in cancer treatment to help the body recover from chemotherapy. Along with tumor regression, chemotherapy can also be toxic to the host’s immune system through oxidative stress and liver damage. While activating and promoting the immune system, tea can also aid in the detoxification of our bodily systems. In descending order, the highest amount of catechins are generally found in green tea, oolong tea, and black tea.

The flavanoid content of tea consumption is also linked to the protection of the cardiovascualr system through prevention of LDL oxidation, lowering serum lipids, having an anti-inflammatory effect, and inhibiting platellet aggregation. Tea catechins have also been found to prevent accumulation of sugar in our bodies, and the lipids produced by sugar, showing prevention benefits for weight gain and diabetes. On top of all this, it can also greatly aid in our digestive processes!

Whether it is a masala chai, sencha green, or oolong peach, as you bring that cup of steaming calm energy to you lips, think of the many places it has come from, and the many benefits it has to offer. So much gratitude to be found, in such a simple cup of tea.

Article written by: Robert Yeilding

References: Banerjee & Chaudhuri (2005). Therapeutic Effects of Tea.
Karudo & Hara (2004). Health Effects of Tea and its Catechins.

Ginger

 

As I dive into the complex and joyful world of making my own mixes of tea, I am continuouslydiscovering the immense health benefits, history, and culture surrounding foods and herbs that I had been oblivious to. The most potent so far has been my investigation of Ginger. After reading Paul Shulick’s Ginger: Common Spice and Wonder Drug, I wanted to highlight some of the numerous health benefits this rhizome has to offer. While our current health care system and societal values seem to have dimmed our knowledge and appreciation of the benefits nature has to offer (hence my ‘discovery’ of ginger), ginger has been consumed for 5,000 years as both a medicinal and like an everyday vegetable.

One of the best known effects of ginger is its ability to Improve Digestion. Zingibain is a protein-digestive enzyme significantly involved in this effect. Ginger’s enzyme and eicosanoid-balancing, and anti-bacterial properties are also very useful for Immune Support, as well as being an Anti-Inflammatory. Yet another benefit of using ginger is its value for Cardiovasular Health via its ability to inhibit platelet aggregation, being a potent anti-oxidant, and heart-muscle strengthener.

Another benefit of ginger was especially interesting to me because it shed light on the history of a certain food and how cuisines develop. Along with ginger’s anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, it is also an Anthelmintic, meaning it acts against parasites including worms. A particular worm ginger acts on is called Anisakis, which is especially found in raw fish. It seems Japanese custom of eating ginger with sushi was no accident. Wasabi is also an anti-microbial.

Adding a little ginger spice to your meal or having a belly-warming cup of ginger tea can be of very healthy benefit to our bodies and minds. The use and appreciation of ginger has been with us throughout history. As early as 500 B.C. Confucius wrote that he was never without ginger when he ate. Ginger is a part of history we should try to repeat.

Article written by: Robert Yeilding

Heart Disease: A Global History Lesson

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is projected to be the leading global cause of death and disability by 2020. Currently, cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in industrialized nations. The significant risk factors for cardiovascular disease include cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking, and physical inactivity. Today I will focus on the utter importance of our diet by observing trends in three different countries over the past couple decades: Poland, the Czech Republic, and China. In each case we will see the relationship between the food we eat and socioeconomic forces, as well as the profound effect these forces have on our health, both positive and negative.

Poland 1991-1998

From 1960 to 1991 mortality from diseases of the circulatory system in Poland was high and increasing, heart disease roughly doubled over this time period. Since 1991, however, the fall in death rate due to heart disease has been larger than that previously observed in any country during peacetime. In 1994, the percentage fall of people aged 45-64 was 26% for men and 25% for women for ischaemic heart disease. What could account for this sudden and dramatic drop in heart disease? The most striking change was the switch from animal to vegetable fats and increased supplies of fresh foods. Consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables has been associated with reduced risk of circulatory disease. This change in fat consumption in Poland has been a consequence of market conditions. In 1989, general purchasing power fell and the withdrawal of large consumer subsidies, especially for foods of animal origin, reduced purchasing power for those foods sharply. The market shifted towards vegetable fats and the production of margarine with low contents of trans fats. It is important to note that mortality changes appeared immediately after dietary changes, suggesting just how quickly dietary changes can affect our health. In this example we see how socioeconomic forces at least temporarily have led to better health through a shift in diet to fresh foods.

Czech Republic 1990-2000

Substantial cholesterol-concentration decrease has resulted from changes in the Czech population’s diet over the past decade. From 1989 to 1997, consumption of beef and pork decreased 32%, whereas the consumption of fish increased 70%. Butter consumption dropped 64%, while vegetable oil increased 136%, and consumption of fruits and vegetables increased 28%. This occurred as the result of the centralized government abolishing subsidies for meat and dairy products. These changes also occurred through federal health-promotion activities to alter lifestyles that were promoted in the new political atmosphere. Increased intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and vegetable fat also increased the intake of dietary antioxidants, thus preventing low-density lipoprotein oxidation. Dietary changes produced a significant 10% decrease in total cholesterol concentration in the adult Czech population. This is another amazing example of the importance of our diet and the forces behind the food we eat.

China 1984-1999

In Beijing between 1984 and 1999, Coronary Heart Disease mortality rates increased by 50% in men and 27% in women aged 35 to 74 years. The biggest contribution to this change is the extreme increase in cholesterol. This trend is consistent with the observed changes from a traditional to a Western diet, such as a 5-fold increase in consumption of red meat, eggs, and oils between 1978 and 1992, along with declines in fruit and vegetable intake. Mortality increases occurred relatively quickly after the cholesterol increases. Another example of the rapid response our bodies have to our diet and cholesterol intake. Increases were also observed in obesity and diabetes. The 16 million diabetics in China are projected to more than double by 2025, to 38 million. Beijing and the other large cities are leading dramatic socioeconomic trends with profound effects on health. Primary prevention, particularly for diet and smoking, could potentially reverse these alarming trends.

Similar trends have occurred throughout the world, including Norway during WWII, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States during the 60’s and 70’s. Aside from the obvious suggestions this data provides for our diet, I hope it will open the door to begin considering the complexity of the socioeconomic and marketing forces that impact what we are eating here in the United States. Who tells us that excessive dairy does a body good? That red meat makes a body strong? Who profits from it? Who suffers from it?

Article written by: Robert Yeilding

SODA: Liquid Candy & the Oppression of Our Health

High Fructose Corn Syrup, Aspartame, phenylalanine, phosphoric acid, acesulfame potassium, caffeine. Sound refreshing? It shouldn’t. A nice after lunch pick-me-up? Not as nice as the physical and emotional crash that comes an hour or two later.

Soda, the liquid candy, is one of the greatest contributors to the poor health and obesity problem facing Americans today, and increasingly countries across the globe. I am going to describe some of the adverse effects of drinking soda, effects that we have been blinded to by the veil of corporate marketing, the media, and systems in power that prioritize profit over our health. I do this with the hope of laying the groundwork for a change in our behavior. To move away from the sugars (or fake sugars) and chemicals we have been trained to be addicted to, and towards a more healthy life.

In 2005, soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks became the largest source of calories in the American diet, replacing white bread. The most prominent effect of soda on our health is its link to weight gain and obesity. The average American drinks 18 ounces of soda a day, which is an extra 225 calories. Dr. Ludwig of the Harvard school of Public Health stated that, “In my estimation, sugary beverages are one of the two leading environmental causes of obesity.” He and his researchers found that the odds of becoming obese increased 60% for each can or glass a day of sugar-sweetened soft drinks (Kanigel, 2006).

But why soda? There’s tons of sugar in all kinds of food. For one, liquid calories pass through the stomach more quickly than food, so the soda calories aren’t going to make you as full as eating the same amount in food. Secondly, it is the type of sugar used in soda, High Fructose Corn Syrup, that is another problem. There is evidence that HFCS used in sodas fails to suppress the production of ghrelin, a hormone made by the stomach that stimulates appetite. This throws off your appetite-regulating hormones and your body isn’t told that you are full. Aside from weight gain, this sugar intake is also linked to developing type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, osteoporosis, and bone decay by interfering with the body’s ability to absorb calcium.

“But I drink Diet Soda.” The chemicals and artificial sweeteners in diet sodas pose their own set of risks and hazards. The artificial sweetener Aspartame is found in more than 6,000 diet products, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. In 2006, compelling experimental evidence was published for the carcinogenic effects of aspartame at a dose level within range of human daily intake (EHP, Soffrittie et al.). Recent research has shown that the carcinogenic effects are magnified when exposure begins during fetal life (Mead, 2007). This is even more powerful when considering that children and women of childbearing age are among the greatest consumers of this artificial sweetener.

So, soda is bad for us. Probably not a huge surprise, but why do we still drink it? For one, it’s everywhere! Coca-Cola’s 1997 annual report stated that, “We’re putting (Coke) wherever you look at the supermarket, the video store, the soccer field, the gas station – everywhere.” We are pulled towards soda in the form of 300,000 fast-food restaurants, 3 million soft-drink vending machines, 20,000 coffee shops and kiosks, bottomless refills, and a billion dollars a year in advertising” (Jacobson, 2007). And they hook us early, Colorado Springs School District will receive between $8 and $11 million over the next ten years to sell Coke to it’s kids.

Falling victim to this childhood oppression of health myself, I fully understand the pull towards soda during our busy lives. However, through learning and understanding what I was putting in my body, and how this had an often unnoticed effect on my physical and mental health, I developed a passion for change. With this change a high and a crash will be replaced with sustained endurance, and an unhealthy addiction will be replaced with a healthy gratitude.Please email for research articles or list of references.

Article written by: Robert Yeilding

What is Health?

What is health? What does it mean to be healthy? Does it mean the absence of illness? If no pathogen or anything physically abnormal is detectable in your body, shall we consider it healthy? Or is our health truly more fluid and complex than this definition.

To begin with I believe this severely oversimplifies the daily variation each of us experience in our subjective feelings of well-being. Furthermore, several aspects of a person’s life have to be considered to gain a picture of his or her health. An important aspect is indeed physical health, including the absence of any illness. Although, this is just one reduced aspect of what it means to be a healthy human being. Another aspect that must be considered is one’s mental health, not being limited to the existence of a mental disorder. What is the consistent state of our emotions, thoughts, and psychological responses to the challenges life presents? Can we mentally and emotionally navigate this world of overcoming obstacles? Also, the quality of one’s social relationships and the fulfillment found in them must be considered. Even the development of one’s spiritual inclination or understanding of life will be found in a true definition of health.

Even the knowledge of all these different factors is not enough to have a true picture of someone’s health. We must know and understand that the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual elements of a person all interact and influence each other in ways we are very seldom aware of. It is in this holistic picture of interactions that we gain insight into a person’s true health.

While the World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” I see it is still a problem in our society that so many people have the attitude that since they are not sick, they are healthy, and therefore complacent. There is always so much room for improvement and growth in many aspects of our lives, and better health because of it!

Article written by: Robert Yeilding