Go on guess!
Ha! No, I'm not doing THAT!!!! I'm having a cup of Pumpkin Spice coffee with real cream. mmmmm....delicious! As a side note, adding a spoonful of coconut oil is yummy too and its super healthy. I actually got the idea for the coconut oil from Dr Perricone. He said he adds coconut oil to his tea. Well, I love my tea so I can't jack that up with anything, healthy or no.
And speaking of tea, this post isn't really about what I'm doing this morning or the yumminess of pumpkin spice coffee on a chilly October morning. Its about my favorite tea of all time, Yerba Mate. More specifically Wisdom Of The Ancients Yerba Mate Royale. They are not paying me to tell you how wonderful I think they are either. I stumbled upon it when I read about Yerba Mate in my Yoga Journal one January. It was a small article about giving up coffee. Yerba Mate was one of the alternatives they listed.
For years, I've wanted to be a tea drinker but never found anything I liked. In fact, I'm addicted to buying boxes of tea. I have massive piles of beautiful, delightfully artistic boxes of tea promising a relaxing cup of serenity.
Except they taste like dirt.
Okay, maybe not dirt, but leaves from a tree that grows in dirt.
Okay, so I guess that what tea really is, anyway.
I don't even like iced sweet tea!! And since I live in the south I'm something of an outcast. At every family function all across the south, the drink choices are Sweet and Unsweet. Nothing else. In fact, if you even dare to ask for water, they look at you like you have a chicken on your head! I have to keep the fact I dont like iced tea on the down-low so as not to be called a Yankee! If you live in the south, there is nothing worse than being called a Yankee. So at all the family functions and events I just get a glass of sweet tea and pretend to drink it and then guzzle from the water hose while I percieve no one is looking.
I do that so as not to look weird and bring attention to myself. I percieve that I pull this ruse off very nicely.
Years go by. Tea boxes pile up. Friends reap the benefits of my tea buying and tea hating extravaganzas.........
Then, hark the herald angels sing! I found this Wisdom Of The Ancients tea, and its wonderful! Its Yerba Mate and stevia leaves.
What really got me, though, are the health benefits of this tea. It fights free radicals, cleanses the blood, and suppresses appetite. It fights aging, stimulates the mind, stimulates the production of cortisone and tones the nervous system. It also enhances the healing powers of other herbs. In addition, its useful for allergies, constipation, and inflammatory bowel disorders.
And according to the Yoga Journal article, it has three times more anti-oxidants than green tea. Its slightly more caffeinated than green tea, about 1/3 the caffeine of coffee, so its not recommended for those suffering insomnia.
Traditionally, its drunk from a gourd and a metal straw. I'm not sure what the purpose of that is, but this is my favorite way of drinking it:
Go getcha some and see what I'm talking about!
This is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday. You can check out other real food recipes, tips, and ideas Here
I know sweet tea is unhealthy but it's delicious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog comment.
I'll let my chef wife know about these recipes.
Sweet tea isn't too bad. Its a lot healthier than a coke!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for entering our giveaway! :-) I'm also trying to gauge how well our various channels are working to spread the word - where did you hear about it?
ReplyDeleteP.S. Mate de coca totally saved my body when I was in Peru. It's a natural way to deal with the altitude change. Plus, I love the way it tastes!
I got an e-mail from a blogger network (I forgot what its called, I just joined.) Its the one that sends out e-mails looking for guest bloggers and stuff. I teach yoga so I thought it would be fun to enter. :)
ReplyDelete