It’s Friday the 13th, and ironically, I am sick. Luckily, I don’t have a high fever but my throat is itchy and my nose is clogged. I’m coughing up a storm and wrapped in blankets. So in my pursuit to get better by Valentine’s Day, only a few hours away, I go to my local liquor store in L.A. looking for soup to last me through the week and anything else that could make a difference. That’s when I saw it, parallel with my eyes, “Contains Antioxidants.” I automatically reach out, grab the box and read on. It was a box of green tea. Once I read contains antioxidants, I was sold. I bought five packs of top ramen, and the box of green tea.
While waiting for the water to boil for my soup, I microwave a cup of water. I know, why don’t I just boil the water for the tea too? Plainly, because it’s easier. Anyway, I open the box and there were the packets. I transfer my soup from the pot to a bowl and throw one of the packets into the cup. I take a sip and wonder, would it taste as good as the other green tea drinks that I have drank? But almost immediately, I burn my tongue. I take another sip and my first reaction was ewww, far from the Sobe Green Tea. So I put in two cubes of sugar and the taste went from ewww to ehhhh. So I continue to drink it just because of the “Antioxidants.”
A few minutes after finishing my soup, I look into the cup. There was no sign of sugar but there was only a floating pack of what looked like crushed leaves. So I think to myself, what are antioxidants? I’ve been drinking this burning hot cup of tea without really knowing what antioxidants are. So I look it up. With hesitation, I go to Wikipedia. My Comm 130 professor told us not to go to Wikipedia because it’s not a credible source, but it was the first thing I could think of. So I click English and type “Green Tea” in the search bar. All over the page I saw, “health effects” but in front of it were the words, “potential” or “unproven.” But I scrolled down and saw the title, “Scientific Studies.” There was hope, for me and anyone else who drinks green tea to get better. I learned that there was more than just antioxidants in the tea, there was polyphenols. Now, there were two things that I had no idea of what they were and what they did. So I read on. After reading the whole section, I have come to learn that antioxidants and polyphenols do help. They help lower the chances of heart disease, cancers, tumors, cholesterol, stress, arthritis, and more. My first thought was WOW, it helps with so many things but not the one I wanted it to help with the most, my cold. But as I think about it now, it’s ok because it will help in the long run.
Green tea is a great drink, because besides the anti-oxidants and polyphenols it's soothing. I mean nothing says relaxing like drinking a cup of warm tea on the couch. It's nice to have some bread with the tea too. And it's always great to have a tea in the cold wind. It helps protect you and for you, helps you get better. That's why Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Starbucks are so popular. Besides calming you down tea can wake you up. I'll drink a green tea in the morning often times to combat the cold whether and lift me out of sleep. The soothing feeling in my stomach really brings me out of the lull of sleep. Tea goes great any time a day, and it's always nice to have a cup. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go make one right now.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love green tea. Not only does it soothe my mind when I have to write essays, but it also helps me lose weight. I lost about 8 pounds in a month by adding green tea into my diet plan. I mean, I didn't lose all 8 pounds by just from drinking green tea, but it did help me lose my weight. Even though I didn't really like green tea at first because of its bitterness, I abosolutely love it for its bitterness. As I mentioned earlier, green tea is my friend whenever i have a paper due. It helps me stay focused and relieves me from stress.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love green tea. I drink it every morning. Next time you drink it you should try it cold. Its so much better. I totally agree with you about the fact that hot green tea sucks. I prefer the kind from Starbucks with it sweetened. I have only had one bad experience with green tea. I once drank some around like eleven at night, and I unintentionally stayed awake all night. Its not like that with everyone, but i make sure to only drink it in the morning or afternoon.
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