The New Culture of Tea: Widespread Popularity

Move over Starbucks; look out Smoothie King; get outta the way wine snobs . . . there's a new trend in town. A new breed of aficionados has emerged, all the while quietly sipping their way to better health and longer lives. No, they're not slurping from the fountain of youth - they're drinking tea!

Look Out - Tea Cart Coming Through!
Imagine this sight: vendors on street corners, peddling not hot dogs, but tea from a tea cart! Who would have guessed that tea would become the most popular drink of the 21st Century? Certainly not most; however, studies released by the United Nations suggest that coupled with not smoking, drinking selenium-rich tea is one of the secrets to a longer life. For example, more than 30 percent of Centenarians in the Anhui Province of East China credit their longevity to their tea-drinking habits. In fact, many care homes regularly make rounds with tea carts to promote the healthy and soothing benefits of tea. Could the fact that tea does not contain salt, fat, or any substance that produces heat be a partial reason for its popularity?

Nature's Nectar?
Consumption of coffee has dropped nearly 65 percent since 1957 because of the undesirable effects of caffeine, and people are drinking much less hot chocolate due to its fattening tendencies. Aside from those surprising statistics, you'll also appreciate these facts about polyphenol, found in tea:

• It can effectively reduce cholesterol and triglyceride in blood.
• It can increase the toughness and elasticity of capillary blood vessels.
• It can reduce fat in the system, thus helping prevent high blood pressure and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Research results also show that tea contains more than 450 kinds of organic compounds and 15 kinds of inorganic minerals, which can help prevent diseases and protect health. Peddling from that tea cart doesn't sound like such a bad idea, now does it?