Tea Facts and Quotations

• No tea ever tastes alike for any two people. It's true goodness is, in the words of the ancient Chinese tea master, Lu Wu, "a decision for the mouth to make."
• Japan has been growing its own tea since at least the 8th century when Zen Buddhist priests grew the plants in their temple gardens with seeds obtained from fellow Buddhists in China.
• Kenya did not become a large-scale tea producer until the 1920's when experts from India inspected the soil and climate. Today, more than one million Kenyan citizens derive an income from its tea industry.
• Keemun tea was originally a common green tea until it was discovered that if allowed to oxidize the leaves produced a drink so fine, that it has been termed "the burgundy of tea."

Tea and Health News

In a recent study of over 1000 Asian-American women in Los Angeles county, researchers examined the effect of tea consumption on breast cancer rates. Interestingly, researchers also determined which women had a gene that quickly metabolizes tea catechins. Compared to the non-tea-drinking controls, there was a significant inverse relationship between tea consumption and breast cancer risk - that means the more tea consumed (black or green) the less chance of developing breast cancer - but only for those women who did not have this gene that quickly metabolizes tea catechins. It appears that tea compounds are removed from the body too quickly to be of value against breast cancer if you have this gene. Reference: AH Wu, CC Tseng, D Van Den Berg, and MC Yu. Tea intake, COMT genotype, and breast cancer in Asian-American women. Cancer Res., November 1, 2003; 63(21): 7526-9.

Tea and Health News provided by: TheTeaTable.com

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