What can you make with Green Tea Bags?

Trying2Save_3

Have got a box of 50 Green China Tea Bags and we really don't like the taste when we made Tea with it. Before I throw them out (not very OS) I wondered if anyone had any recipes to use them?

apprentice_tycoon

I use green tea - Jasmine flavour, I have found it to be very strong so I have worked out how to make it to be just how I like it ( it's worth persevering with because of all the antioxidants and the fact that it speeds up your metabolism no end) I use a mug, just off the boil water and I put the teabag straight in and out again - literally, no stirring or squeezing, it's just like a quick ginger biscuit dunk, it will be very pale but for some reason the colour developes over the next few minutes while it cools enough to drink. It's a very nice summer tea. Please have another go!

Loadsabob

I wonder whether they would be nice in a bath? With perhaps some dried milk, or oatmeal or bicarb to soften the water?

You could hang them on the taps and let the hot water rush through them. You might think them entirely inappropriate for that, so you'll have to use your discretion - I know some sorts of herbal teas can be used! But we absorb good things through our skins, might be another way of getting the anti-oxidants into you?!

Ted_Hutchinson

Trying2Save wrote:

Have got a box of 50 Green China Tea Bags and we really don't like the taste when we made Tea with it. Before I throw them out (not very OS) I wondered if anyone had any recipes to use them?

It really would be worth your while persevering with the tea. It may take a few cups to acquire the taste for it. I have to admit I didn't think much of it to start with and bought some Brown/green blended tea to start with. (Typhoo and Brookebond do them) so it may be worth your while using one green +one brown bag in the pot for a week or so to get more used to the flavour.
Now I've got used to Green Tea I prefer it so whatever your current reservations it may grow on you also.

I won't turn the thread into a lecture on the proven benefits of Green tea but if anyone's interested a "Green Tea" search of PUBMED will throw them up.
Perhaps just one or twoThe green tea, a good choice for cardiovascular disease prevention?
Apprentice Tycoon is right about the anti-oxidents and about the effect on metabolism but the effect on weightloss is more than simply this. It is likely that it also has an inhibitory effect on the formation of adipose cells.
See Green Tea Polyphenol Epigallocatechin Gallate Inhibits Adipogenesis and Induces Apoptosis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes if you want your fat cells to be inhibited or commit suicide.

apprentice_tycoon

Ted - please translate your link! I'm afraid that I only understood 20% of the second one

It really does seem that if I have about 3 -4 cups of the green tea daily I lose around 1 pound per week, so I had a hunch that it was the metabolism thing, you say that it's something else as well?

edit - I have re-read the second one and decided that the first line said all that I needed to know, not bothered about the rest!

Trying2Save_3

Weight loss did you say :j I have put on pounds since being an OS cook. Okay I'll persevere maybe I'll just show my next cup of water the t-bag. I'll go and make one now.............. By the way just had a mint tea, it was lovely - just place mint leaves in a mug and poured on boiling water. Very refreshing.

Ted_Hutchinson

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

Ted - please translate your link! I'm afraid that I only understood 20% of the second one
....snip.......
edit - I have re-read the second one and decided that the first line said all that I needed to know, not bothered about the rest!

Anyone who can't get used to drinking green tea can use capsules instead of, or as well as. ZIPVIT do them but they are quite pricey. One of the research papers showed that Green Tea [size=+1]catechins[/size] are best absorbed on an empty stomach so if you are seeking medicinal benefit, taking the capsules {or having a couple of cups of green tea} when you wake first thing in the morning is the best time.
Glad I don't have to translate the title. Would have been something like the active ingredient in green tea appears to stop the developement of fat cells and seems to cause fat cells to disappear. But this is a lab experiment and the same effect may not happen in the body. But at least a possible mechanism behind the claims can be seen in lab tests.

Ticklemouse

Green tea - weight loss - holidays coming up?

Hmmm - I see a few OSers (and others) rushing to buy them. I'm sure I have some in the cupboard

Cheers for that info Ted

apprentice_tycoon

Twinings Jasmine Green tea is my favourite and it really does seem to help with weight loss (they don't claim that it does) as I said in my earlier post, I lose 1 pound a week with 3 or 4 cups a day, I'm sure that it would be more if I left the biscuits etc. alone

filigree_2

Just a thought, I'm not a scientist...

Green tea is supposed to help you lose weight
You should drink on an empty stomach
Having a calorie free drink before a meal reduces your appetite

*thinks*

I'll try having a cup before every meal, see how the diet goes!

If anyone doesn't like it, you could try a smidge of honey or a slice of lemon, that might improve the taste.

Ted_Hutchinson

One of the research papers used 690 mg catechins (green tea extract so if you want to use capsules to ensure the right amount you would need two of these a day from Holland and Barrett on special offer. (cheaper than Zipvit £6.95 for 90).

Green Tea Extract 315 mg. Capsules (100 Capsules) #003131 Sale 50% OFF Qty. Unit Price: £9.29 for 1 item Your Price: £4.64 for 1 item
Subtotal: £4.64

Edit World's Healthiest foods Green Tea pages
If you wanted to keep off the supplements and just drink green tea you would need 6/7 cups a day to reach the 690mg Catechins level as about 3 cups per day (which would provide 240–320 mg of polyphenols). Just one cup of green tea supplies 20-35 mg of EGCG, which has the highest antioxidant activity of all the green tea catechins.