I gained nearly 50 pounds when I carried Jacob and it took me 10 and half months to shake them off naturally by drinking tea and taking care my baby.  A lot of my co-workers asked me how I could lose so much weight and why I am so skinny. Here is my secrets:

1) A small exercise could help in a long run.  I used to go to gym and swimming, but I really can’t afford it anymore. I am a working mom and I treasure every moment I have with my baby. I decided to take Jacob for at least 30 minutes walk everyday to see more people after I noticed he had stranger anxiety when he was 4 months old. I guess a nice relaxing walk and a few crunches a few times a week is a pretty good exercise routine in a long run.

2) Eat right and don’t starve yourselves.  I like to know what I put into my mouth, so making my own lovely food is part of my ritual and my husband loves my cooking.  I am contend when I am well fed myself with hearty warm meal and I hardly feel like going after the snack. So i guess it’s very important to love what you eat and make sure you eat healthy.

3)Tea is my life and I drink it throughout a day. Tea has been proven to increase metabolism and burn fat. I cannot speak for other people, but I do notice my metabolism is very high and I generally have a lot energy comparing to other new moms. If this is a true statement, then I am the most fortunate person in the world because I enjoy every sip of my fine tea.

No Comments » Posted by june / Health Benefit of tea

Since we started the website, we heard a lot of encouragement words from different people. Thanks again for all the support. My sister, Anna Chiu, (a register dietitian in Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong) is so nice that she did some research on her own and send us her findings. I think it is worthwhile to share this with all the tea loving folks.

I actually would like to share with u some info on the tea as one of the functional foods, which is
“a food similar in appearance to a conventional food, consumed as part of the usual, with demonstrated physiological benefits to reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions”

As u mentioned about the reduced risk of Cardiovascular disease with the intake of tea, u could also find out more info regarding the protective effects of the phytochemicals, i.e., Polyphenols & Catechin in the tea extracts.

From: Position Paper on Functional Foods, American Dietetic Association, Journal of American Dietetic Assoc., May, 2004
Catechins in green tea, reduce risk of certain types of cancers, recommended that green tea 4 - 6 cups daily
Polyphenols in black tea, reduce risk coronary heart disease

From: Sonenshein G et al. Cancer Research. October 2007; 67(19):9018-23
Green Tea and Breast Cancer Therapy
World Cancer Research Fund - supported research has shown that a component of green tea known as EGCG can stop the growth of certain breast tumours in an animal model. …suggests that EGCG, in combination with conventional antibody therapies, may represent a new way to target these specific breast tumours.

I hope there would be happy experience to promote the beneficial effects of your nice tea!!

David from www.just4tea.com

No Comments » Posted by david / Health Benefit of tea

David and I met up my friend Gordon for Dim Sum at Saigon Seafood Restaurant to catch up old times. The dim sum is very authentic Hong Kong style, but you have to be there before 11:30am or after 1:00pm to get a table. I have not met Gordon for many years since he got married and he is still the nicest dupe ever. I was stunned after he told me about his high cholesterol. A couple of my friends asked me what type of tea could lower their cholesterol from the past and I pointed them some well known herbal teas. They tried it for a while, but they gave up on them afterwards because they are either very hard to prepare or very bitter. For instance, both bitter melon tea (苦瓜茶) and Gynostemma pentaphyllum (絞股藍茶) are primarily used to manage cholesterol level, but they are extremely bitter.

The cholesterol problem never run into my family even my parents are at retirement age now and their cholesterol are perfectly normal. Comparing to these bitter taste herbal teas, drinking tea regularly could also reduce blood cholesterol and it’s more enjoyable. Drinking pu-erh tea is purported to improve digestion and reduce blood cholesterol. It has been shown that rats experience reduction in body weight, blood triglycerides, and blood cholesterol following a diet containing Pu-Erh.

I enjoy life by drinking nice teas and wines, eating my home-cooking fresh food and go hiking, swimming and exercise regularly; I choose to live healthy by enjoying it.

In case you are not threaten by bitter taste of bitter melon, you might like Pan Fried Bitter Melon with Eggs :
Ingredients:
1. 1 medium size of bitter melon
2. 2 eggs
3. chopped minced garlic
4. salt and white pepper
Method:
1.Cut the bitter melon in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and slice each half crosswise in thin pieces.
2.Beat the eggs in a bowl with a dash of ground white pepper and salt.
3.Heat a wok until its surface begins to smoke. Swirl in the olive oil and let heat 10 to 15 seconds. Pan fried the bitter melon and minced garlic around 1-2 minutes until the melon becomes brownish and soften.
4.Spread the melon pieces thinly over the wok surface and pour the beaten eggs evenly over the melon pieces. Flip the mixture over to cook the other side. Cook until eggs are set and lightly browned.
Wish you all have a happy healthy life.

June from www.just4tea.com

Information is from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaogulan

No Comments » Posted by june / Health Benefit of tea