Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Let the Tea Challenge begin!

I am a tea drinker who has truly experienced the benefits. The most notable are that I get sick less, and have better skin! While these results are only based on personal experience, and are clearly not scientific, this blog will explore some of the real research that others have done, and also collect live testimonials from you. If you are already a tea drinker, be it green, black, etc., let me know what benefits you have experienced.

If you are not currently a tea drinker, let me challenge you to switch to tea! When I switched from coffee to tea in 2002, my skin cleared up. I was getting 2-3 giant pimples on my chin and forehead a month. On my face at all times, there was always a few dark old pimples, a few fresh red ones, and a few emerging pink ones. All my friends and family can attest to this. I thought I was going through a second puberty! The persistent giant pimples ended after I stopped drinking coffee. So in this example, it may not have been the tea that "gave" me good skin, but more so the end of coffee consumption. But, it doesn't end there. I couldn't go without the caffeine, so I had to replace it with something! Tea was my answer.

A few years after switching to tea, I noticed that I was getting sick less. Ever since college, I would get bronchitis every winter, catch a few bad colds per year, and get the dreaded flu once in a while. But in the winter of 2005, when I went to get my flu shot, I realized that for the past few years, I hadn't gotten as sick. Sure, I still take sick days from work, but they're usually only 1 day long, and the cough or runny nose goes away more quickly. The colds are much more manageable, they don't last as long, and the symptoms are mild. I don't take any medication for them either! Sure, this change in physical health could be attributed to the flu shot, or less work stress, or better mental health, or even chance, but the one factor I can't ignore, is that caught fewer colds after I switched to tea! And I haven't had bronchitis in seven years!

So I challenge you to switch to tea. If you need the caffeine, like I do, and want to try something that could be better for your health, give it a try and let me know how it goes!