Black tea

Black tea

  I am a coffee lover. I can't remember when I started drinking coffee, but I think I've been drinking a lot of coffee since I first tasted it, except when I was pregnant. When I drink coffee, I drink it as black  without adding any sugar or cream. That's why I like Americano-style coffee with nothing added. This is because if I add other additives such as sugar or milk to the coffee, I cannot feel the coffee's unique flavor.

  Especially when I was in Germany, I suffered from low blood pressure. The geographic coordinates of Karlsruhe, the city where I lived, at 49.009° latitude, 8.404° longitude and 118m elevation. That is, the land is higher than other terrain. It is also cloudy 67% of the year with frequent rain. Perhaps because of this climate, when I lived in Germany, I often had headaches and dizziness. The volatile weather, which is always cloudy with rain and sometimes stops, affects your health. Before it rains, the atmospheric pressure in the air decreases and the oxygen content decreases. This is called low pressure weather. In other words, when the air pressure drops, the blood vessels dilate, and this change in blood pressure causes a headache. The vestibular system, which maintains the balance of the body in the ear, causes vertigo due to changes in air pressure. Body aches, indigestion, and tinnitus. Coffee was like a savior to me when I was suffering from this weather sickness.

  Every day at home or on the street, I drank the strongest coffee. In this way, the caffeine in the coffee constricts blood vessels, resulting in some degree of blood vessel relaxation.

 So, because of the taste and efficacy of coffee, I became a coffee maniac and bought a large coffee machine to grind beans and drink. I still miss my coffee machine I used in Germany. However, I have recently felt the need to cut down on consumption of coffee. That's the reason I found that high doses of caffeine actually cause the side effect.

​ However, I was worried about whether it would be possible to decrease on the coffee that had been with me for a long time in an instant.

​ So, the alternative that I came up with is black tea. I bought black tea from Costco that comes out around this time of the spring. 240 packs of tea sold in cans with cute bunny illustrations for the Easter season. And with the desire to drink this kind of tea happily, I bought also a white tea pot in Marshall, drew a pretty flower picture.

  ​After preparing everything like this, I slowly switched from coffee to black tea. It was good to be able to walk away from coffee without withdrawal symptoms because it has caffeine while maintaining the characteristic bitter taste of coffee.

  Black tea, also translated to red tea in various Asian languages, is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, green, yellow, and white teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor than other teas. This strong scent is a great substitute for coffee flavor.​

  ​Black tea has many health benefits.

1. Anti-aging, antioxidant action

Black tea contains antioxidants that inhibit the activity of free radicals that accelerate aging. The antioxidant effect of catechins is known to be 100 times greater than that of vitamin C, and polyphenols also have strong antioxidant properties, so they have anti-aging, arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular disease prevention, and cancer-fighting effects. In other words, it is a good tea to drink for beauty and prevention of cancer and vascular disease.

2. Lipolysis effect

Catechins in black tea reduce fat and cholesterol concentration to promote lipolysis, and caffeine has a function of suppressing the deposition of triglycerides, which is helpful for diet.

3. Cold Prevention

Black tea is rich in minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, and antioxidants such as tannins have strong antiviral and antibacterial properties that fight viruses such as influenza, dysentery, and hepatitis. Black tea also contains alkylamine antigens that help boost the immune response. Therefore, it is used to boost immunity and prevent colds and viral diseases.

4. Relieve fatigue

Unlike coffee, the caffeine content in black tea is low, and it is not absorbed quickly by the body. It is also effective in relieving stress and calming nerves.

5. Bone and Joint Health

Studies have shown that people who drink black tea regularly have stronger bones and joints than those who do not. Drinking black tea is known to help prevent osteoporosis by blocking active substances that destroy bone cells.

6. Prevention of tooth decay

Polyphenols and tannins in black tea prevent bacteria that cause tooth decay and kill bacteria that cause bad breath, and fluoride removes bacteria that cause tooth decay.

7. Improvement of digestive function

There is a study result that tannins in black tea are effective for stomach and intestinal diseases, and polyphenol relieves intestinal inflammation in irritable bowel syndrome. In addition, the antibacterial function of black tea helps to improve the symptoms of constipation and diarrhea by killing harmful bacteria in the intestine.

  ​I have decided to drink black tea every day with so many health benefits. The daily recommended amount of caffeine intake for adults is known to be less than 400mg, and there is 154mg of caffeine in a cup of Americano (355ml). However, black tea also contains caffeine, so drinking too much is not good. Anything in excess is not good.

 There is a picture that comes to mind when I think of such tea and tea time. Below is a tea time by Mary Stevenson Cassatt. 

Tea by Mary Cassatt, 1880, oil on canvas, 25½ × 36¼ in., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 Mary Stevenson Cassatt (/kəˈsæt/; May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926)[1] was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania , but lived much of her adult life in France where she befriended Edgar Degas and exhibited with the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.

  ​Perhaps that's why her paintings are mostly women's and children's everyday life.

Summertime by Mary Cassatt, c. 1894, oil on canvas, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago

Lydia leaning on her arms seated in Loge, 1879

  Among them, in the picture of "Tea", two beautiful women are having tea time. The woman sitting in the space on the right is talking, and the woman in the picture is listening to the story while drinking tea. A woman has her hand on her chin and she is seriously listening to her. I think the story was very interesting to see her cup lying on her tray with the tea still unfilled. Looking at the woman on the right drinking tea, I think the British who think teatime is like a picnic at her house are right.