The Power of Tea

There are few hours in life more agreeablethan the hour dedicated to the ceremonyknown as afternoon tea.

— Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

Every Sunday afternoon in our Kenton, England, estate at 4:00 P.M., like clockwork my mother would sigh, "It's time for a nice cup of tea." Then, she followed the routine like her grandmother did. She ordered tea and treats to her bedroom chamber. The parlor maid served us assorted crustless finger sandwiches, warm butter scones with Devonshire cream on a three-tiered tray, and we used a fancy British tea set. As we sipped brew from elegant white teacups, we talked about novels and travel. I was taught proper manners — from putting the white cloth napkin on my lap to keeping my elbows off the round table with white roses and vanilla-scented candles fit for royalty.

While this noble setting is a place I can picture me each afternoon, it is stretching the truth a tad. My real roots were not majestic or regal. There wasn't a castle or English servants, or chitchat like at the mad tea party in Alice in Wonderland or the tea gathering on the ceiling in Mary Poppins.

But there was tea in my early years, sort of. I grew up as the middle child of three in middle-class suburbia, San Jose, California. It was a mediocre place where my parents worked five days a week. A red and yellow Lipton Tea box was a staple in the kitchen cupboard. Iced tea in tall glasses with lemon slices was a commonplace on the wooden picnic table in the backyard in the summertime; hot tea with cinnamon sticks in copper mugs was a winter afternoon delight. A pretty lady in the newspaper ads and on the TV told me tea bags were for energy and relaxation; I believed her. And I recall in kindergarten singing the popular 20th-century song "I'm a Little Teapot, Short and Stout."

Now, in the 21st century, I can look back at my life experiences and see how tea — all types, one by one — played a role in my real world, then and now. True, I wasn't raised in a castle, nor as a kid did I engage in traditional afternoon tea. But I got a taste of tea — and non-teas or tisanes (a French word) — and its healing powers throughout my years of growing up and traveling on the West Coast, up to the Pacific Northwest, through the Midwest, the Gulf states, the Northeast, and Canada.

As I sit here in a rustic mountain cabin surrounded by pine trees (recalling the one that fell on the roof when I landed this tea book project), I feel a connection with tea leaves — and flowers, roots, and bark as I write The Healing Powers of Tea. My cupboards are stuffed with tea and non-tea types: in decorative tea tins, big and small, and a big Lipton box, too, like when I was a kid. The best part, I have discovered the healing magic of tea is a big place — and I've done my homework to dish on teas and non-teas that I love and to help you discover your tea love.

For countless people — and perhaps for you, too — the healing powers of tea are no secret. Like me, people use tea not only as a versatile home cure for ailments but also as a weight loss, heart- healthy, cancer-fighting, and anti-aging superfood, where it gives a health boost teaming up with clean foods, including fruits, herbs and spices, and water. But people also love a cup of tea because of its flavor and feel- good vibe.

If you haven't heard by now, listen up. Your health — mind, body, and spirit — may depend on it. Chances are, you already have one great tea folk remedy in your kitchen cupboard. It's time to start using it more. But there is another tea on the block that you need to know about, too.

Medical doctors and even tea researchers are now discovering just what folk herbalists around the world have been saying for centuries, that both black tea and white tea may have remarkable healing powers.

Today, we know more about the natural goodness behind these two teas. Both black and white tea are good folk medicine. And this healthful yin and yang duo (the Chinese principles of opposite and complementary elements to achieve harmony) promises to be more popular as a home remedy combination in the new millennium, as alternative medicine — which includes tea — continues to be used more and more. Studies have shown antioxidants (in superfoods, including black tea and white tea) act like pharmaceuticals, which are currently being researched for their potential to treat diseases and stall aging.

Tea, which is considered a superfood, is believed by medical authorities to help lower the risk of developing health ailments and diseases because it has the same compounds as antioxidant-rich staples. Researchers have connected diet with the prevention and treatment of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Tea studies on nonhumans as well as humans will most likely continue in the future as scientists seek to discover more healing powers of nature's special remedy.

The Black and White Tea Leaf Yield Two Powerful Teas

Black tea has been praised by wellness gurus as one of Mother Nature's most versatile superfoods, especially if produced from quality, organically grown tea plants. And now, white tea, the overlooked and under-studied tea, may be its new counterpart, thanks to the white tea leaves.

People from all walks of life — as well as some tea pioneers from past centuries and recent times and present-day medical researchers — agree energizing black tea (which goes through a longer process of oxidation than other tea varieties) first and foremost lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Surprisingly, medical doctors and tea researchers continue to spread the word that both black tea and white tea may be the new green tea (or coffee) while their reputation of...