Time for Tea
We have long valued Tea for its positive effect on health. Thanks to research from UCLA we may now understand how tea benefits gut health and even weight loss.
For the first time, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have identified that the polyphenols in black tea alter gut microbiome profiles in a way that inhibited weight gain for mice who were being fed a high-fat/high-sucrose “obesogenic” diet.
By changing gut metabolites and intestinal microflora, it appears that black tea alters energy metabolism in the liver of mice in ways that promote weight loss. Green tea was also found to have anti-obesogenic effects but via a different molecular alteration of gut microbiota.
Source: Black Tea Alters Gut Microbiome in Anti-Obesogenic Ways
Tea Benefits Gut Health
The gut microbiome is fairly new territory for science and medicine. There are trillions of microorganisms throughout our gastrointestinal system. While we have not identified the trillions or fully understand the interactions among them, researchers do have some clues. Researchers in this study found “green and black tea decreased the percentage of microbiota associated with obesity while increasing gut bacteria associated with lean body mass” but through different mechanisms in the gut microbiome.
If you enjoy tea and good health this is great news! We agree with the article’s caution against highly concentrated forms of tea. There is not enough understanding and millennia of human experience has been with either loose leaf or bagged. 😎 Add a cup of tea to your day, embrace its refreshing simplicity and reflect on humanity’s ancient love for the beverage:
Lu Tong’s Seven Bowls of Tea 七碗诗 卢仝（唐. 790~835）
The first bowl moistens my lips and throat; 一碗喉吻潤，
The second bowl breaks my loneliness; 二碗破孤悶，
The third bowl searches my barren entrails but to find 三碗搜枯腸，
Therein some five thousand scrolls; 惟有文字五千卷，
The fourth bowl raises a slight perspiration 四碗發輕汗，
And all life’s inequities pass out through my pores; 平生不平事盡向毛孔散，
The fifth bowl purifies my flesh and bones; 五碗肌骨清，
The sixth bowl calls me to the immortals. 六碗通仙靈，
The seventh bowl could not be drunk, 七碗吃不得也，
only the breath of the cool wind raises in my sleeves. 唯覺兩腋習習清風生。
Where is Penglai Island, Yuchuanzi wishes to ride on this sweet breeze and go back. 蓬萊山﹐在何處，玉川子乘此清風欲歸去。
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