I have been trying different teas recently as part of my ‘wellness’ routine. I have found that cardamom tea does work as a good soother of a sweet tooth craving. According to a Dr. Oz show some time ago, this spice tricks your brain into thinking it is having sugar. I also believe that as advertised on the label, the Vanilla and Cinnamon tea for Healthy Skin is working. (I am allergic to many skin products, eg. parabens and aloe. Therefore, I use those items sparingly, if at all, to minimize my exposure and take supplements, eg vitamin A.) I also like to use peppermint tea to cool a queasy or uneasy stomach. It works, but the peppermint oil makes my lips tingle. I have some vanilla (extract), cinnamon and peppermint (extract), which I use regularly in my cooking, along with turmeric sprinkles on top (occasionally). I mix my teas. Yes, it true. A blend is nice, but can be tricky. Green tea taste bitter to me and like black, red and white tea contains a heavier fluoride content, which I avoid to keep my fluoride intake consistent for a healthy thyroid (see pg. 263 of “Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause” by Izabella Wentx, PharmD, FASCP with Marta Nowosadzka, MD ISBN: 09780615825793). I like cardamom with vanilla and cinnamon. Anything smooths out a chai and a little ginger tea is hard to swallow – literally, so I take on approximate 1/3 cup with some other smoother tea. I love Earl Greys (especially Twinings), unfortunately, it make me sneeze. Twinings, Numi and Yogi are my favorite brands, though, I have to say mostly because I cannot locate other brands in the local grocery. Though they may be more expensive, you can buy in bulk (e.g. subscribe at Amazon for example) and always have an ample supply for guests, lol. This is funny because I have always wanted to have a “tea party” as an adult I have never had one. Hey, that’s another item for the bucket list? Menu: https://entertaining.about.com/cs/coffeesandteas1/a/afternoonteamen.htm
You should remember to check the tea ingredients. I believe that most of the grocery store varieties barely contain much of the tea they have on the label – the labelled ingredients indicate more of the fillers, eg. black. My organic cardamom Pu’erh tea that I was unable to locate locally contains mostly organic Black Pu’erh Tea. Life is fully of complexities, so I minimize the cardamom, however, according to wikipedia: “Pu-erh or Pu’er is a variety of fermented “dark tea ” produced in Yunnan province, China.” Therefore, I am correctly ‘healing’ by introducing a low dose of probiotics and ‘fermented’ foods into my diet. (see pg. 311 of “Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause” by Izabella Wentx, PharmD, FASCP with Marta Nowosadzka, MD ISBN: 09780615825793).
Life is complicated. A healthy diet, reducing stress, relaxation and mindfulness are all good ideas, but each individual is different in their response to these. Yes, it is ironic that most of us may not ‘have time’ to take time for a mindfulness practice. Hey, I get it. I had a group of bargain needlepoint kits in my closet for over twenty years. We had a flood last year and I needed something that I could do that would take my mind off of the state of 0ur home. I really had to concentrate to get the those itty, bitty cross stitches in the right places and I had to get some magnifying glasses to do it. After a few months, after I talked myself into taking on the one that everyone said “will take you years to finish,” I found myself so looking forward to a little quiet time, a bright light (preferred morning sun) and a ‘spot of tea’. My family supplied the sympathy or was that empathy? In any case, I am deeply appreciative of all the people that helped us get our environment livable and for the flow of peaceful acceptance that happened as I created and backed out less and less “misstitches” in my work. I will SOMEDAY finish them all, then buy more and keep going. Working on those little creations made me a more relaxed and easy going person with a better and more positive attitude and I want to share my discovery with others. If they just put it in their closets for twenty years, I will know that it is there, waiting for them to come to the point that they work on even when they think that they will never be able to do it. One stitch at a time girls. Have a happy tea break, anyway.