"HeadHunter" > wrote in message
. ..
> Hi there. I'm 29 year old male who wants to start drinking herbal tea
for
> a few reasons:
>
> 1) I quit smoking cigarettes. I was a pack a day smoker for 5 years.
> Although I do not miss the action of smoking I do miss the habit of a
> comforting break.
Congrats!
> 2) Weight loss and diet. I am not looking for a tea to lose weight
> with. Last year I lost 25 lbs by adjusting my diet and dinner plate sizes
> without increasing exercise. I simply would like a hot beverage that
> requires no sweetener and will provide little energy. I don't want
another
> liquid in my diet that has the potential to "add weight"
Green and white teas are meant to consumed straight and some do taste
"sweet."
> 3) A tea that has little or no tannins and caffeine. I drink too much
> coffee in the morning and although I can now drink coffee without sugar or
> sweetener dunno how to do without the caffeine. because my coffee
> consumption has gone up since I quit smoking (and the elimination of sugar
> as well) body is adjusting to new chemistry from new dangers.
A cup of tea contains approx. 1/2 the amount of caffeine of a cup of regular
coffee, so switching to regular tea might be a good step for you to take in
the weaning process.
<Pause for station identification>
Herbal teas are properly called tisanes, not teas, simply because they don't
come from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis.
AFAIK, herbal teas don't have
caffeine except for yerba mate and guarana. Please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_tea.
<Back to regular program>
More tannins are released as the steep gets longer. Since longer brew times
also makes tea bitter, it's fairly easy to avoid. This page says that green
tea does not release tannins and I would assume by extension that white tea
doesn't either:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannin#Tea.
OTOH, caffeine is highly water-soluble resulting in up to 80% of the
caffeine in tea being released in the first 30 secs. or so. This allows you
to reduce the amount of caffeine in your tea yourself, if you don't want to
buy decaf tea. All you have to do is brew the tea like normal for 30 secs.
and discard that water. Then, proceed to brew as usual with fresh water for
a beverage w/ much less caffeine. Also, since it's common to infuse green
and white teas 3x or more, the first cup will give you the caffeine and
subsequent cups will have lower to negligible levels. Consuming tea gongfu
style will give you similar results.
> I would be drinking my tea at night in front of my computer while I am
> trying to get my work done. That said I am very active in the that for I
> am on my feet 9 hours a day. At night I am behind the computer for 4 or 5
> hours and this is the time I would drink the tea. I wouldn't want
> sleeplessness to be a side affect of a herbal tea BUT I would love
alertness
> from a tea it that is possible.
For alertness, IMO, it would be easier to stick with a true tea for the
caffeine. If you buy a CO2 decaf'd tea, it will have something like 99+% of
the caffeine removed compared to the up to 80% if you decaf'd it yourself.
For relaxation, I've found that the chamomile and rooibos herbs work well.
> I have Experimented with peppermint tea and I like the taste I would
> preferred the real herb in the tea and not a "flavoured" tea.
Okay, so stick with herbals, and avoid flavored teas which are real teas.
> Where on the www can I get honest and detailed information about herbal
tea
> adn it's constituents? Any FAQ's to look for? Any warnings to issue?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_tea has several common, popularly
infused herbs.
The misc.health.alternative ng may offer more assistance as r.f.d.t. is for
the discussion of tea merely as a beverage.
Here is the r.f.d.t. FAQ which has more info including about kicking a
caffeine habit:
http://pages.ripco.net/~c4ha2na9/tea/faq.html#3.1.2.
HTH.
--
~~Bluesea~~
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