Iced Tea or Lemonade

June 10th is National Iced Tea Day and with the weather getting warmer people are thinking of cooler beverages like iced tea and lemonade to help cope with the summer heat. Both beverages have therapeutic properties and are good for you. There are a million ways to make iced tea. You can make black or green tea from the Camellia sinensis plant and add lemon or lime or whatever you desire and there a million ways to make lemonade. There's pink lemonade, raspberry lemonade, lemonade with mint, lemonade with hibiscus, and the list goes on. 

While you are drinking these delicious drinks remember there is more to them than just flavor. Lemons are good for your liver, they are loaded with vitamin C and potassium and have small amounts of B vitamins. Many people start their day with the squeezed juice of one lemon with 8 oz. of room temperature water on an empty stomach. Wait 10 minutes before eating. It cleanses the body of toxins and has been used for everything from lowering blood sugar to weight loss. 

Iced Tea is a good selection to beat the heat. It is easy to brew up a pot of green tea and add the juice of one lemon. Add the ice and stick in a sprig of mint. Green tea is good for weight loss, prevention of heart and circulation problems and may help prevent cancer. People in Japan have the highest longevity rate in the world. Many scientists think that is because of their consumption of green tea.

Black tea has therapeutic uses in it's own right and can be mixed with lemon and ginger for a tasty iced tea. There was a famous Dutch study where 805 men ages 65 to 84 received the majority of flavonoids in their diet from black tea. They were followed for 5 years.The study found a strong link between flavonoid intake and lower risk of death from heart disease.  The outcome of the study suggested that the black tea had a protective effect on the heart.

For those of you who are worried about caffeine, you can use the decaffeinated tea which is available everywhere. A serving of black tea has roughly 1/2 the caffeine of a cup of coffee and green tea has about half the amount of caffeine that is in a cup of black tea. 

Don't hesitate to write comments about this blog. Send me your favorite iced tea or lemonade recipe and I will publish it in an upcoming blog.
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Valerie Lull, Author

Ten Healthy Teas

Lullval@clearwire.net 

Web site: www.valerielull.com