Tea—the Ultimate Comfort Food
It’s a long standing tradition. You’ve read about it in books and stories. You’ve seen it in movies, plays, and TV shows. Someone is worried, sad, exhausted, and what do they do to comfort themselves? They have a cup of tea. Someone wants to comfort someone who’s going through a hard time or wants to talk about a serious problem. What do they do? They offer the other person tea.
In real life, people don’t do this as often as they once did, but maybe they should. It seems that these days we reach for a convenient pill, go to a bar, or shell out big bucks for a therapist when maybe what we really need is a nice hot cup of tea.
Sure, tea is warm and comforting. What could be cozier than sitting on the couch, sipping tea, maybe with a cat on your lap or a dog at your feet. But can a cup of tea really make you feel better both mentally and physically? The answer to that is yes.
Tea contains theanine, a derivative of amino acid that does many good things for your body and mind. You may know that tea, particularly green and white tea, helps your body’s immune system. They not only have antibacterial properties, they have antiviral properties so strong that concentrated green tea extract is even used to fight certain types of cancer. Tea also helps lower cholesterol levels, lowers blood pressure in people with high blood pressure while leaving normal blood pressure alone, and even helps you lose weight. Theanine is one of the compounds in that help tea accomplish all this, but that isn’t all that theanine can do.
Theanine has been shown to increase the levels of Alpha brain waves, the brainwaves you have when you’re relaxed but alert. It also increases dopamine, the hormone that’s associated with a feeling of well-being. In short, it’s a natural antidepressant. Theanine is also known to synergize with caffeine to increase the ability to learn, think, remember, and concentrate. Scholars often drink green tea before studying because of its ability to sharpen the mind and help pull your thoughts together. Monks use green tea as a meditation aid.
Most of the studies of teas effects on the mind have been conducted with green tea, but that’s because they’ve been done in Japan where green tea is the most popular. All tea contains theanine. If you prefer black or oolong tea to green, you will still be consuming the beneficial theanine. You’ll get more theanine, and more EGCG too, if you use loose tea instead of teabags. Tea needs room to expand in order to release full flavor and health benefits.
So, the next time you’re feeling a bit down or want to comfort a friend, get out the teapot. Brew some loose tealeaves. Share it with a friend. You’ll feel better.
brewed on Feb 1st, 2010
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