Drink to your health this Summer

One of my favorite things to do in the Summer is to relax with a good book and a tall glass of iced green tea on our patio. Iced tea is so refreshing, but did you also know it can be quite good for your health? Especially green tea! I first started drinking green tea when I was told by my physician that my ovarian cyst may be cancerous. I went home and immediately started researching what I could do to help myself get through this rough time. Eventually I came across green tea, and I have never stopped drinking it since.

Green Tea has a long list of health benefits. It is thought to assist in preventing or fighting the following conditions:

    •Various cancers
    •Rheumatoid arthritis
    •High cholesterol levels (lower bad and raises good)
    •Cardiovascular disease
    •Infections
    •Tooth decay
    •Immune function
    •Dementia
    •Diabetes
    •Stroke 
    •High Blood Pressure
    •Assists with weight loss/boosting metabolism

So you might be thinking yeah right..how is that even possible. And if it is..why aren't more people drinking it? Green tea is loaded with very powerful antioxidants. Catechin polyphenols known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a potent antioxidant that besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. Blood clots are the primary cause of many heart attacks and strokes.

The research being completed on green tea is really exciting, with so many devastating diseases prevalent in our world today it offers hope for a healthier future. New research backing the numerous benefits of green tea are cropping up all the time. At the University of Purdue researchers concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells.

Green tea is different than most other teas due to the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. Many other types of teas are fermented, and the EGCG is made into other compounds that aren't as beneficial to our health.

So, now that you know a little more about green tea, let me give everyone some tips on making it icy cool for Summer!

1) Firstly, it's best to cold brew green tea. For the longest time I was unaware of this and was brewing it with hot water. Well, I later learned that some of the health benefits can be lost this way.

2) You can use tea bags or loose leaves, I tend to do both depending on how much time I have to spend. The tea is going to vary in quality of course, depending on the brand you use.

3) I brew my iced green tea in a large glass pitcher that I will guess is 64 ounces. A general rule of thumb is 1 tea bag per 16 ounces of fluid, or 1-2 tablespoons per 16 ounces. This will vary according to your personal taste preference as well. It took me a few tries to get an amount that my whole family agreed on. I use 7-8 tea bags in my pitcher usually.

4) Simply drop the bags or tea leaves in and chill for a few hours in the fridge. If you use leaves try not to swish them around too much or they will break into very small pieces and make extraction much harder.


5) Once cooled simply take out the bags, or if you used leaves you will need to pour the tea through a strainer. Then you can have some fun creating unique flavors. I like to add a few tablespoons of honey and squeeze a lime, lemon, or tangerine into my tea. Below are some other suggestions to get you started.

- Honey for sweetener
- Lime
- Lemon
- Tangerine
- Orange
- Mint leaves
- Berry Juices
- Ginger

6) And that's it! Serve in a tall glass with ice, or pour over ice in a reusable thermos/bottle for packing with lunch boxes.

My husband works outside a lot during the heat of the day so I send him out the door with a  large steel thermos of this each morning, it keeps him refreshed and quenched all day.