I also love my food.   As I write this, I munch on a slice of pizza, sullen that I could not find my chocolate fudge that some children in my Youth Group made me.

If you ever asked me if I would be willing to give up food and drink tea for the rest of my life?   I would have to turn you down.   However, a gentleman from Calcutta decided that, after what was apparently a terrible offense to his stomach when his wife arrived late with lunch, he would never drink food again.

According to The Telegraph, Bhismadeb Sarkar was waiting for his lunch one afternoon, 1PM sharp.   Well, his wife came in at 1:30PM with a plate of rice, fish, and vegetables.   Mr. Sarkar was so offended with his wife’s tardiness that he immediately threw the plate and exclaimed that he would “stop eating totally.”

… Um, wait, what?   Isn’t that kinda against the laws of science and all things holy?

Well, per 2007 The Telegraph article, since 1985, Sarkar has gone on living without eating a single thing.   Instead, he prefers about 18-20 cups of tea a day.   He insists that he feels fine with only the tea, stating, “Call me crazy if you like but since then I have not had anything except tea. I drink 18 to 20 cups daily without milk.”

Bhismadeb Sarkar Enjoying a Cuppa

Even stranger, this same article references another person who decided that surviving on only tea for the rest of his life would be a good idea.   Debabrata Dutta, however, decided that he would rather live on tea than on what he deemed to be sub-par food.

Dutta was once a wealthy man, being born to a well-off farmer family, became a pauper after his family died.   His inheritance ran out after only ten years.   He never thought he would have to work a day in his life and now, he was stuck washing dishes at a local hotel.

Dutta states, “I don’t like eating ordinary food like rice and vegetables.   The hotel owner, Subrata Sit, offered me Rs 100 ($1.88) a month and a lunch of rice, lentils and vegetables every day.   I refused it.”   Instead, Dutta decided to drink 22 cups of tea a day.

“I have never tasted such food in my life. I used to eat quality rice, meat and various kinds of fish delicacies,” he states.

Doctors at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital said a person can survive on tea but would lose physical strength.

“Normally, a cup of tea contains around 100 calories, which means they are both getting around 2,000 calories daily,” states Dr Madhusudhan Chatterjee.

Hospital superintendent Debashish Bhattacharjee advises that, “They would fall ill sooner or later. Everyone needs a balanced diet.”

Now, admittedly, I have had days where, rather than eat, I will just continually drink tea, not paying attention and eventually realizing that I hadn’t eaten anything all day.   However, I would NOT advise this kind of diet for anyone.

Now, 22 years of this?   What are your thoughts?   Is this a hoax?   Or are Dutta and Sarkar really going this long without any food?

Now, there are some writings that you can paraphrase, that you can edit, include your own words, etc, but this is a story that I would prompt all my readers to look at straight from Mr. Beedoo.

Read away, learn more about why tea is the drink that civilizes and revel in the fact that you are amongst those more refined for the simple fact that you drink tea.

Cute Cups of Tea!

So, imagine my surprise when I saw news articles on how the bubbles in bubble tea are carcinogens!   Apparently, a German-certified government lab tested some tapioca balls coming out of an unnamed German bubble tea factory and found that the tea contains PCBs, a material that was once used in coolant fluids but, due to toxicity, was banned from the US in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.   On top of that, this organization argues, the balls pose a choking hazard.

Now, bubble tea’s history is no clearer than that of regular tea.   The exact origins are unclear but it is believes that bubble tea was started in the 1980s, possibly by a Taiwanese tea shop owner Liu Han Chieh who wanted to start a new creation.   Eventually, a Japanese TV show happened upon the intriguing drink and showcased it, releasing the beverage to the world.   Since its inception, there have not been any reported accidents of bubble-tea related accidents.   If there have not been any accidents in 30 years, I would argue that bubble tea’s drink-ability is fine.

Obviously, not being a scientist, I cannot argue with the PCBs.   However, as a tea fanatic, I have searched around and found a quick recipe online for making your own tapioca pearls.   The process is not difficult at all, is very forgiving and can prove to be a fun activity to do with the kids:

For this activity, you will need:

- Tapioca starch

- Food coloring (if you want to have a bit of fun with it.)

Directions:

- Put your tapioca starch in a bowl (no measurement, as that will vary depending on how many balls you want to make) and slowly add boiling water.   Make sure your water is boiling, or this will not work.

- For a bit of fun, add in your food coloring.

- This is the part that you can have fun with.   Knead the starch until it has the same consistency of play-doh.

- Roll your play-doh dough into bite-size pearls on a wet towel.   Make sure they’re not too big!   If your dough starts drying, then just add a little bit of water.   If it gets gooey, throw in some more starch.

- Let the tapioca balls dry.    This will vary depending upon preference, but overnight should be perfect.

- In order to make the drink, throw your pearls into some boiling water and wait for them to rise.

- Depending on preference, you can leave them in for a few more minutes (since once they rise, they are only half-way cooked) or you can let them soak for longer.   Personally, I like mine a little chewy, so the shorter amount of time, the better.   Otherwise, they turn gooey and make me feel like I am drinking fish eyes.

- Drain your pearls and quickly put them on ice.

- Throw in your tea and enjoy!

While I must say, I do not think that this tea is a carcinogen nor do I think it poses a choking hazard, having a recipe on hand is fun and handy, allowing there to be no question what you are putting into your body.   Since you can roll the pearls to whatever size you would like, you can also avoid a choking hazard.   Have fun, make a night of making delicious tapioca balls and then spend the next day reaping the rewards by sipping on a nice, cool cup of bubble tea.

I freely admit, I abhor cigarettes.   There’s no medical benefit to them, it harms those around you, it frankly doesn’t smell that great and close to 90% of lung cancer in men and 80% in women are caused by these white sticks that rob you of your life.   I tell people it’s their choice whether or not they choose to smoke but quite frankly, I also tell them that I feel they’re making a stupid choice.   However, past that, if you really want to smoke, who am I to stop you?

A Break-Down Of What You’re Smoking

With that being said, I know people who do smoke that, sadly, due to the cigarette’s addictive nature, feel like they simply can’t.   Sure, we all know about e-cigarettes, the patch, etc.   However, did you know that green tea is now shown to help kick the habit of smoking?

An article recently published in Science China Life Sciences called ’A Revolutionary Approach for the Cessation of Smoking’, claims that you can make custom-designed cigarettes laced with green tea components in order to help get rid of those smoking cravings.   In clinical trials, after 2 months of smoking this unique cigarette, people reduced their smoking intake by 52%!   The famed nicotine patches and gum, it has been reported by the New York Times, might not help at all and in fact, may even be more harmful than good.

Phinse Philip, a lecturer in the Community Oncology Division of the Malabar Cancer Centre, said, ”A majority of users smoke as it purportedly gives them some form of relaxation. The oral intake of the amino acid L-Theanine, uniquely found in green tea, is known to have anti-stress effects and acts as a relaxing agent. The study conducted in China shows that green tea may be an alternative to quit this addictive habit.”

Thomas Varughese, head of surgical oncology and reconstructive surgery at Kochi’s Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre, even said drinking green tea after quitting smoking completely could contribute to reversing the possibility of lung cancer.   Imagine the revolutionary idea that green tea can not only help people kick a potentially deadly habit, but can also reverse the negative effects!

The health benefits of green tea, at this point, is rather common knowledge.   We are plagued by the media with thoughts of how green tea can cure cancer, make you lose weight, destroy free radicals, etc.   Well, here is another one to add onto this ever-growing list!

So, next time you want to light up, maybe drink up instead.

One of the PSAs Against Sugary Drinks

But the reason why I mention this ban here?   A drink that is growing in popularity, bubble tea, could be thrown out with all the sodas.

Bubble tea is a drink that is found in Taiwanese culture and has quickly spread to other nations as a delightful beverage.   The drink typically contains tea, milk and “bubbles,” or tapioca balls, at the bottom.   The person imbibing the beverage gets an enlarged straw so that when they drink their tea (sometimes as a tea, sometimes as a smoothie), they can also get gulps of the tapioca balls at the bottom (on the Tea Love Facebook page, you can see pictures of this drink from one of my favorite tea places, The Tea Spot in downtown Cranford, NJ).

However, this absolutely delicious beverage does come at a cost to the waist line – a 16 oz. cup can total as much as 232 calories (as a point of reference, that’s just shy of McDonald’s 250-calorie hamburger).   Due to the high calorie-count for a drink mixed with America’s rising obesity problem, bubble tea is coming under more scrutiny.

Restaurants that offer the drink to their customers can be fined up to $200 if they do not serve a variation that has at least 50% milk.   Some businesses cater exclusively to those who drink bubble tea, serving up different sizes and different varieties.   With the ban that is being discussed, these businesses would risk losing merchandise that might be pre-purchased, losing customers that might not like their new drink that much or even face dissatisfied customers who just want something larger than a 16-oz. bubble tea so that they could indulge a little.

If you have yet to try bubble tea, I highly recommend giving it at least a shot, even if you are on a diet.   Let it be your guilty pleasure for a night and find out whether or not you like how this drink ban will affect your choice.   Think you should be restricted to 16 oz?

She talks about the different teas and their different health benefits.   If you ask me, that’s always handy information you should know in case you want to try some holistic remedies before going to the doctor if sick.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND – This blog is NOT meant to substitute the advice of a doctor.   If you are sick, please seek medical attention.   Use your own discretion regarding this matter.

Someone has picked up on my blog about that and posted an awesome Infograph, explaining all about tea versus coffee in a great picture that I had to share!

Make sure to go visit Coffee Grounds to Ground and like the page!   Sure, it’s coffee, but you know, they did also talk about tea

Enjoy!

Isn’t This Infograph Awesome?

Today, NASA announced that a drink that was initially developed to protect astronauts from the sun’s radiation can also noticeably reduce wrinkles and signs of aging in as little as four months!   One of the components included in the drink known as AS10?   Green tea.

The Now-Famous AS10

The drink, a blend of fruit and plant derivatives, including cupuacu fruit, acai, prickly pear, yumberry, acerola, grape, pomegranate and, of course, green tea.   Not only does the blend provide a rich array of vitamins and antioxidants (exactly what green tea is famous for), but it also has a high dose of phytochemicals, a chemical that naturally occurs in plants and cause the lush, green color that we love to see in the spring.   This chemical also acts to shield cells from the harmful effects of radiation.

When researchers at the University of Utah tested the effects of nearly 200 people drinking two ounces a day, they found that the drink had a dramatic effect on the people’s faces.   30% of the people’s dark spots were reduced and 17% had less wrinkles!

The drink is thought to be so effective because it helps to destroy free radicals, which damage skin cells.

This drink can be bought as 2.5 fl oz. bottles for $29.95 per six pack.

While this time, I cannot say that tea is the only beverage worth mentioning, the fact that this super-drink could be a part of such a powerful blend is absolutely astounding to me!   Green tea has been toted as a miracle beverage for centuries and now, it can be added to another blend to create a scientifically proven elixir of youth, reversing the damage of the sun and giving people back their baby skin from years ago.

Would you buy this drink to get back your baby bottom face?

UPDATE:

One of my Patch.com readers commented saying that he found the whole idea preposterous and wanted details.   Not one to disappoint and leave my readers hanging, I went on a search and found oodles of news articles on AS10.   However, I did find two that said that the whole ordeal was, in fact, fake.

I am keeping in mind that out of all the websites searched, two said the drink was fake and then the rest still keep to the idea that it is real.

I’ve attached some of the articles below but what are your thoughts?   Is AS10 really the miracle drink it claims to be?   Or is it just another beauty product hoax?

Article stating the issue is a false claim:
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.rss.spacewire.html?id=1654

Other news sources fooled:
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/12260200-as10-nasas-cure-for-radiation-wrinkles

http://theweek.com/article/index/228525/nasas-wrinkle-erasing-space-drink

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/nasa-astronauts-space-drink-reverse-signs-of-ageing/1/197821.html

http://www.counselheal.com/articles/1887/20120528/nasa-s-drink-astronauts-fight-wrinkles-sun-spots-blemishes.htm

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nasa-space-drink-can-reverse-signs-of-ageing/261911-17.html

Now, there are plenty of benefits for both drinks.   But who honestly is the true winner?   If you ask The Color of Tea, neither.   Both have separate benefits.   But let’s compare the two drinks and I will let you decide in the comments!

Where does it come from?

Coffee: Coffee comes from the coffee seed (not the bean, which is a misnomer), originated in Yemen.

Tea: Tea, as we well know from my blog on the history of tea, comes from a plant called the Camellia sinensis from China.

What’s the origin story?

Coffee: Coffee, like tea, does not have a concrete origin story.   One legend believes that Sufi mystic Ghothul Akbar Nooruddin saw some very energetic birds flying about.   Upon sampling the berries that the birds were feasting on, he found the coffee seed.

Another story states that Sheik Abou’l Hasan Schadheli’s disciple, Omar, found the beans and tried to eat them.   When he found them to be bitter, he roasted them.   That did not help so he boiled them.   When he boiled them, he saw that it created a brown liquid and sampled some and discovered coffee.

Yet another account says that young goat herder Kaldi saw his hyper flock chewing on the berries.   Naturally curious, he chewed on a few himself and, upon finding himself energized, brought it to the Muslim holy man.   The holy man disapproved and threw them into the fire, causing a pleasing aroma.   The other holy men followed the smell, raked the berries from the embers and boiled them to produce the first cup of coffee.

Tea: When Emperor Shen Nong, who was well-known for his knowledge of both agriculture and medicine, was resting and boiling water one day, he saw a leaf fall into his drink.   Rather than toss out that water and boil a new batch, he decided to try this gold liquid, producing the first cup of tea.

How are they made?

Coffee: Coffee berries are picked and roasted depending on what the manufacturer wants to produce.   From there, they can be ground and boiled for your enjoyment.   You can also eat some delicious chocolate-covered coffee berries, if you so choose.

Tea: Tea will vary depending on what the manufacturer would like but typically, the leaves are picked, wilted, oxidized, bruised and packaged.

How much caffeine is there in each drink?

*Note* Caffeine is an important topic.   If you are pregnant or have a medical condition, please look up caffeine content of all drinks.

Coffee: Coffee is well-known for its caffeine content and, if you are like me, you more drink it to stay awake more than anything else.   Coffee, depending on the cup, can range anywhere from 0 mg (when drinking decaf) up to 200 mg for a generic brew.

Tea: Tea also varies for caffeine content.   While a “pure” tea (that with the camellia sinensis plant), will always have caffeine, you can opt for an herbal tea that does not have any caffeine.   However, a cup of tea can go up to 61 mg for a black tea brew.

What are the health benefits?

Coffee: Coffee has been linked to a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease, liver cancer, gallstones and type 2 diabetes!   However, keep in mind that too much can raise blood pressure and cause the case of the jitters, so drink in moderation.

Tea: Tea has many health benefits depending on the tea.   They can help with everything from weight loss to pregnancy.   However, it is not firmly proven that tea does perform all these benefits, so please bear that in mind.

And now, I pose the question to you.   Which is better, tea or coffee?

Organic certification (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First, I wish to issue an apology to all my readers.   The past few days have been a hectic, cold blur.   In fact, I am still fighting off this darn cold that is trying to take over!   But, no matter.   With plenty of matcha tea and water by my side, I’ll muscle my way through.

And now, for the reason that you came to this blog in the first place – tea.

At work last week, my employer came into the office raving about these wonderful organic almonds that she bought and the delicious organic green tea she was sipping on.   Now, I am sure that, just like me, you hear the phrase “organic” being thrown around constantly.   I have personally seen organic toothpaste, organic band-aids and even organic dirt.

I am not knocking organic anything.   However, I am curious – what’s the difference between organic tea and regular tea?

Turns out, organic tea is better for health benefits.   It does not have the chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which means that less of that gunk and junk goes into your body.   For those that are earth-conscious, it also allows a friendlier farming strategy as well, allowing us to also be a bit kinder to the earth.   Rather than rely on ineffective solutions, organic farming allows for farmers to do green methods, such as using “green” manure to fertilize crops.

Either way, Tea Gschwendner, a tea store started in Trier, Germany, states that, “tea, whether grown organically or conventionally, is one of the cleanest foods on earth.”

With the miracles that tea provide, I don’t doubt this.   Though, to help Mother Nature every once in a while, it can’t hurt to imbibe a bit of organic tea.

Boba tea (popularly known as bubble tea is delightfully tasty, gives you a bit of a pleasant surprise when you slurp up a tapioca ball (found at your local Asian food market) and is chock full of health benefits if you make it using matcha like Le Zoe Musings recommends.

Matcha green tea uses the entire tea leaf.   It is ground into a fine powder and is used for Japanese tea ceremonies.   It is also believed to have that many more health benefits since you do use the whole leaf.

Read more about Le Zoe Musings’ great blog here:

Green Tea Bobas { Homemade }

Such A Charming Array!

This got me thinking, though.   This initiative focuses on how to recycle bottles.   How does one go about recycling tea and tea bags?   That’s why I decided to list a variety of different ways to recycle and repurpose this amazing drink!   Some are silly, some are made up from the top of my head and others are taken from various sources.   Comment and let me know other ways that you can use your spent tea bags and tea!

- The website Apartment Therapy recommends using unused tea bags as air fresheners (shown above).   This is perfect for any stale tea that you might have lying around the house.

- Make a pair of earrings.   I will be trying to do this now by varnishing some tea bags, hanging them on thin chains and connecting them to an earring hook ^_^   If this does work, I will post pictures!

- Composting!   Tea leaves are great for that.   Make sure you check the pH balance of the tea in accordance with the plant, though.   Some teas are more acidic and thus would not be good for certain plants.

-  To treat bags under the eyes.   This is a pretty popular one.   According to eHow, chamomile might be the best tea to use for this method.

- Tie two tea bags together and make yourself a pair of organic nunchucks.

- Reader’s Digest published an article on 22 ways to use tea for the home, beauty and gardening!   Everything from cooling sunburns to reducing razor burn to even getting rid of gray hair.

- Reader’s Digest is not alone – Fox News published an article about 49 ways to re-use tea!   The uses are endless, including cleaning carpets and polishing furniture.

- I referred back in a previous blog about making bath tea.   Why not give this delightful mixture a shot?

- On Facebook, I posted an article that I found on how to make sugar cookies in the shape of tea bags.   So cute!   Maybe take some of those old tea bags and use them as a template to cut your cookies out?

- How does a green tea marinated steak sound?   Get cookin’! (If you have a recipe to share, feel free to do so!)

- Sprinkle the leaves around for a brand new decor in your home that also smells amazing.

- Use it as a perfume.   After all, tea smells great.   Why can’t you smell like tea?

- Some internet sources are saying that tea would be good for dying anything ranging from wood to fabrics.   After all, tea does stain.   Why not?

Do you have any good uses for tea?

First and foremost, she needs to consult her doctor before doing anything even related to starting a regimen.   Tea regimens are not right for everyone so she could, in fact, hinder the baby if she were to start drinking tea without a doctor’s approval.

A Young Pregnant Woman (Not My Friend) Drinking Tea

With that being said, Livestrong.com, dedicated to promote healthy living, states that red raspberry leaf tea is likely safe during pregnancy.   It’s rich in vitamins and minerals, including iron and calcium.   The drink also has alkaloids from the leaf, which helps to tighten and relax the uterine muscles.   She will then have a strong, toned uterus that will make it that much easier to push a baby out!   (She does plan on doing a natural birth, last time that we talked).   The tea can also reduce the need for a C-section.

The tea has also been shown to increase milk production and decrease nausea.   As popular culture has shown, those are extremely important factors.   While it might not be safe for the first trimester, she should be able to use it for the second and third trimester without any problems.   All she would need to do is drink two cups daily.

The Livestrong website says that nettles, or stinging nettles, are also used in many pregnancy teas.   They are high in vitamin C, A and K and are also rich in calcium, potassium and iron.   Their history in the medical field is just as rich as tea is!

However, the University of Maryland Medical Center website states that they alter menstrual cycles and might cause miscarriages.   The conflicting data might be because it might depend on which part of the nettle is used for the tea.   I would suggest to her that, since there are two widely conflicting pieces of advice, to steer clear of nettles.

AmericanPregnancy.org gives a few more teas that she might want to sample when she is pregnant.   Peppermint tea would be good to help get rid of any morning sickness that might hit her.   It will also decrease any flatulence, so I am sure that her husband would appreciate that.

Lemon balm is a calming tea as one can experience by drinking it right now!   It can also relieve insomnia and anxiety, which is perfect for those nights when the baby is kicking and she just can’t rest.

Ginger root is a tea she has to be wary about.   It is said to help relieve nausea and vomiting, but the jury isn’t out if it’s safe or not.   Again, I recommend that, when in doubt, leave it out.   God forbid she drinks something and lose the baby simply because it was a questionable tea.

Dandelion tea also falls under this category.   While it is rich in a variety of different vitamins and minerals and might even help nourish the liver and relieve edema, it is not known if it is safe just yet.   She can get the nutrients somewhere else.

Chamomile is on the list for AmericanPregnancy.org as, “Insufficient Reliable Information Available,” which really surprised me.   This is perfect for the insomiac-riddled expecting mother.   But chamomile can also induce contractions, which is not good if your baby is not ready to come out yet.   She is going to need to talk to her doctor first.

Rose hip tea is also on shaky ground.   While it is great for vitamin C, it is not entirely clear how good it is and she should avoid it or, at the very least, drink it in small amounts.

She needs to steer clear of alfalfa and yellow dock tea.   While they both have their respective health benefits, it is not known if they are safe yet.

Some teas are on the market called pregnancy teas which are believed to promote health in different aspects of tea.   They are a blend of different herbs that are believed to promote a healthy pregnancy.   She should be fine drinking this tea, though the jury is not out on how much it helps.   She does need to be wary and read the packaging though.   Some of them do contain nettles.

All in all, I wish the best to her in her pregnancy endeavors and, if any of you are trying to conceive or are already carrying a young one, I wish you all the best!