TEAs!

I am a TEA drinker but hardly an addict :-) 

The difference between an addict and simply a drinker is the amount of the beverage consume in a day. An addict is someone who cannot resist the craving and temptation and who consume several cups in a day but a drinker is someone who only drink when necessary. I only drink tea when necessary, say, when I eat starchy foods and desserts, when the weather is super cold and when I am sick.

So I am just a drinker and not a Tea addict. As much as possible, I want to take everything into moderation, not just for Tea but for all beverages and foods I am consuming, it's always bad to go beyond the limit. 

Tea has caffeine which brings no good to the body when taking in large amount. I've read once that caffeinated beverages are bad for women who are pregnant, planning to have a baby or into breastfeeding because caffeine blocks the absorption of Folate in the body. Folate is necessary for the proper brain development of the child, lacks of it can cause birth defects. I am not getting married in the coming months but it's better to be prepared all the time than feel sorry, right?

As for my Tea drinking habit, I preferred Green Tea over other tea variants and coffee because Green Tea is loaded with high antioxidants which protect women from premature aging, cancer and other chronic illnesses. Coffee contains large amount of caffeine which is not good. For other people, coffee might be a comfort drink but for me it's an annoying drink because it irritates my mood and my stomach :-(

The tea I am drinking now

I've tried several TEAs already but there's one brand, according to a study, that contains the highest concentration of antioxidant--Celestial Seasonings Green Tea in AUTHENTIC variant. So this is now my Tea choice. I always put honey  on it to add a spike of sweetness and to balance the tea's bitter taste. Honey is also loaded with plenty of vitamins and minerals. 

I've tried Apple Cider Tea too, it felt good, very therapeutic, it provides remedy to an upset stomach.

I'd tried this once

But I want to be more natural with my Tea drink, I want something fresh and authentic, so my mother told me to bring a fresh Tea plant from our backyard which my father planted a year ago, it's now growing abundantly and consumed by my parents freshly, chewing the leaves after plucking. 

Our homegrown Green Tea fresh from our backyard

My parents are into herbal consumption too, almost all kinds of herbs have become part of their lifestyle in the province. They regularly consume yellow ginger powder mixed in malunggay stew, in milk and oatmeal. My father makes Lagundi syrup regularly as a natural remedy for cough, cold, fever and headache.

According to my father, herbs contain the highest concentration of antioxidants and other healthy benefits when harvested at early dawn, between 4:00 and 6:00 in the morning. So everytime he prepares Lagundi Syrup, he would wake up early to pluck fresh lagundi leaves. He used pure honey instead of sugar when making syrup.

Yeahh!Herbs are excellent it provides natural health benefits to the body and Tea is fantastically good to soothe stomach upset and headache. I love its bitter taste too when eating suman and other starchy foods.