{"id":466,"date":"2009-07-02T22:43:11","date_gmt":"2009-07-02T22:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=466"},"modified":"2017-11-08T16:06:34","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T16:06:34","slug":"summer-refreshment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/summer-refreshment\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Refreshment: Cure for the Mid-Afternoon Doldrums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Make Iced Green Tea<\/h1>\n

It’s 3:00.\u00a0 The vending machine is calling, or maybe the doughnuts left over in the break room.\u00a0 You know it’s suicidal to indulge those cravings, but work is so boring and you’re so tired and . . .<\/p>\n

Here’s an alternative.\u00a0 Maybe more than sugar and calories, you need refreshment<\/em>\u2014as in something cool, revitalizing and calming, like Iced Green Tea.<\/p>\n

\"Pomegranate
Pomegranate ice cubes in the foreground; Lemon balm sprigs to the side; my lovely rosebush in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Years ago, a good friend told me about the surprisingly satisfying taste of green iced tea, but I just couldn’t get excited about it.\u00a0 Green tea seemed bland enough when hot; I could only imagine what a cold cup might taste like.<\/p>\n

Things changed a couple weeks ago when I ran across a new decaf green:\u00a0 Whole Foods’ Green Tea with Lemon Myrtle.\u00a0 Admittedly, it was the price tag that drew me in.\u00a0 While most teas now run $3.00 to $4.00 for a 20-count box, this one had 40 bags for $4.00\u2014and it was organic to boot.\u00a0 Remembering the crush of heat that waited outside the air conditioned grocery store, I decided it was finally time to try iced green tea.\u00a0 Now I’m hooked.<\/p>\n

Ayurvedic Balance <\/strong>There may be a good reason iced green tea is just the ticket for me on a hot day.\u00a0 According to the Ayurvedic thought system, I’m primarily a “Pitta” gal.\u00a0 As Jennifer Workman, Ayurvedic practitioner and author of Stop Your Cravings<\/a> <\/em>explains, we pitas get hot and bothered easily.\u00a0 Happily, with something bitter, astringent and sweet our irritability evaporates and we get realigned into balance.\u00a0 Conveniently, my new tea is both astringent (green tea) and bitter (lemon myrtle), in one easy-to-make, no-calorie beverage.\u00a0 See the ice cube suggestion below to incorporate a little low-calorie sweetness.<\/p>\n

Vatas and Kaphas<\/strong> Will this tea be as beneficial if you’re not a Pitta?\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Although Pittas are predisposed to irritability, anyone can get hot and bothered when the circumstances warrant, and summer’s heat certainly qualifies as just cause.<\/p>\n

Good as a Tummy Tuck?<\/strong> Not really, but among the dozens of health facts to hit the airwaves recently there was a study about green tea’s ability to reduce tummy flab.\u00a0 Sure can’t hurt to try!<\/p>\n

A Special Touch<\/strong> Toss in a couple pomegranate juice ice cubes for a little sweetness.\u00a0 Make a batch from pomegranate juice, then store in a plastic zippered bag or storage container in the freezer.\u00a0 Not only will they be quite handy, they won’t acquire a nasty freezer burn taste.<\/p>\n

Brewing in the Post-Hippie Era <\/strong>Remember the sun tea craze?\u00a0 It was a great idea:\u00a0 Why waste energy brewing on the stovetop when the sun could do the work?\u00a0 Now it’s possible to go one step further and just brew in the frig.\u00a0 Put a pitcher in the frig at night and it can go to work in the morning.\u00a0 Three good reasons to go this route:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Your refrigerator doesn’t have to cool hot or warmed tea, saving energy.<\/li>\n
  2. You get better taste.\u00a0 As explained by tea connoisseur <\/span>Beth Johnston of Teas, etc.<\/a>, cold water draws out or pulls the flavor from the tea , “a much slower and gentler method [than hot water brewing] that results in a smoother, more subtle, naturally sweet tasting tea.”\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. As or more importantly, you’re spared from potentially dangerous bacterial growth.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How’s that?\u00a0 Both water and tea leaves can harbor bacteria.\u00a0 Sun tea water reaches only 130 (F), never the 195 (F) required to kill all this bacteria.\u00a0 So left in the nice, warm sunshine, it can quickly grow and multiply to dangerous levels, enough to make you sick.\u00a0
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    Getting It to Work <\/strong>Of course you can drink iced green tea any time, but it does me the most good at my 3:00 p.m. low point.\u00a0 So fill a water bottle at home and stash it in the office frig.\u00a0 Alternatively, consider brewing a bottle at work.<\/p>\n

    No Whole Foods?<\/strong> No problem.\u00a0 Any green tea will do.\u00a0 Add a slice or two of lemon to your glass.\u00a0 Or, when throwing the tea bags in your brewing water, include a few sprigs of lemon balm, one of those great herbs that comes up year after year without your doing a thing.\u00a0 Or check out some of the greens that Johhston offers, especially Premium Lemon Citrus Organic<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    To a refreshing and uplifting afternoon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It’s 3:00. The vending machine is calling, or maybe the doughnuts left over in the break room. You know it’s suicidal to indulge those cravings, but work is so boring and you’re so tired and . . . Maybe more than sugar and calories, you need refreshment\u2014as in something cool, revitalizing and calming, like Iced Green Tea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1,29],"tags":[48,52,54,269,270,279,303,329,448,452,477],"class_list":["post-466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recipes","category-uncategorized","category-weight-loss","tag-astringent-and-bitter-tastes","tag-ayurveda","tag-bacteria-in-sun-tea","tag-green-tea","tag-green-tea-reduces-stomach-fat","tag-health-benefits-of-green-tea","tag-how-to-brew-iced-tea","tag-iced-green-tea","tag-pitta-balancing","tag-pomegranate-ice-cubes","tag-refrigerator-brewing","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2783,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions\/2783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}