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| How healthy is your tea and coffee? |
When you walk into a supermarket or shop in Nigeria and ask an attendant, "what kind of tea brands do you have here?’’ The regular response will be-- We have Milo, Bournvita, Ovaltine, Cowbell etc huh? Hahhaaaaaaa!!! Milo, Bournvita, Ovaltine? Are these tea variety? These are milk, chocolate drinks and not tea!!! If you doubt me, take time off and go round shops anywhere you travel in Nigeria, investigate on this and you will see.
Before I make any general statement in my articles , I must have done my survey and investigation properly. I am also a regular tea/coffee drinker and sampler and get to check out and evaluate different brands. I just love to sit down with a good steaming hot cup of latte or black tea with some good wild Nigerian honey. Great way to kickstart my day every day. Sure everyday!!!!! I would rather be out of solid foods than not have my varities of coffees/teas in my kitchen cabinet.
Apart from carrying out survey of what most Nigerians refer to as teas, most of my clients on weightloss therapy, during registeration, when I asked what they take for breakfast, they will include Tea. Tea? Ok.. what is the name of your Favourite tea? This is where they will list all kinds of milk chocolate drinks we have in the market. Ofcourse once in a while some will add –lipton!
As of coffee, we all know that for years, we have one very popular brand in Nigeria for those who have not taken the time to explore deeper into the coffee beverages. So they will mention that popular brand that has been in existence before most of us were born. If that is the only coffee you have been taking for years, you have missed what it means to enjoy good coffee. Big time!!! No kidding here! Walk into a well standard supermarket, good one, and you will see what i mean. There you will see varieties of good coffees. It is even better when you travel outside Nigeria, the coffee varieties you will see will blow your mind and you will understand, you have not even started drinking coffee at all.
Do you have a coffee maker in your Kitchen here in Nigeria? Ok...unless you are a foriegner or a very top Executive who knows about coffee and you can tell me ‘’yes’’. Some other persons will be wondering what I mean by coffee maker. Do you brew your coffee? Brew my coffee? Aha, now you see, most people are so used to instant coffees that they have never seen where real fresh coffee is prepared. When you drink coffee that is roasted and freshly brewed every morning then you have arrived in coffee drinking not the chaff we take here by just pouring hot water, add sugar/honey, milk and boom, coffee is ready. Naija style huh? Pathetic!! Yet most Nigerians travel out and they drink good brewed fresh coffee..what is wrong about having them here? Guess what, Ican’t even mention other ways of enjoying good coffee like- expresso, eggnog, cappucinno etc. You can still see some packaged instant cappucinnos in few good stores here in Nigeria but do they really taste like a fresh cappuccino?
Sometime ago I was in a big hotel in Ghana on a conference, and during our buffet breakfast, I saw where a waiter was making cappuccinno and i was excited and requested for a cup. When my small cup filled with bubbles arrived, I took a sip and what? Trust me ...I will say it... I must query you....I asked the waiter...what the heck is this? It was so tasteless...never understood what i was drinking...yet I paid so much for it!!
Now when we talk of teas, what we actually mean is your tea that comes in –tea bags, leaves. Teas come in different types and flavours. We have –black tea, Green tea, white tea, herbal tea, slimming tea, fruit teas, etc. These are varities of teas which now comes in different brands and they have different taste and fuctions in the body and our health. We also have caffeienated and Decaffeinated ones. Coming to our topic today if drinking tea is healthy, teas are very healthy beverages if you drink good stuffs. I tell people that teas are just special herbs dried and package for consumption.
The black teas can go with milk but others can be taken with your natural sweetners without milk. Now for you to get the best in teas, it depends on your taste and health needs. Most people think slimming teas, green and herbal teas are the only good teas for people with weight problems. That is not correct! Infact if you are not careful with the slimming/herbal/green tea you take, you harm your health and still not lose weight. Black teas which tend to be very popular can also assist you lose weight if you choose your brands well. Another point you must take in here is that, if you chose to drink tea to lose weight you must do this under the supervision of an expert to achieve good –lasting results.
You cannot rely on tea drinking only to lose weight if you have overweight issue. People with less weight can lose weight faster with tea combined with good diet. But all in all, good tea brands are helpful in weightloss. Apart from weigthloss, you can also get good skin nourishing Antioxidant from teas. Most good fruit teas, green teas have lots of Antioxidants. Black teas without milk can also calm your nerves and cure MILD headaches. (If the headche persist for days, see you GP).
Now on coffee, just like tea contains caffeine which is the controversial ingredient in both beverages. Some people say caffeine is good, some say it is bad. Whatever! My stand on coffee if you are drinking fresh roasted coffee is that, they are healthy. Fresh roasted coffees are coffee beans roasted fresh with your coffee making machine and the taste is different from Instant coffees. They also contains lots of Antioxidants like teas. Coffees are made from coffee fruits and anything fruits are natural and healthy. When next you are in Ethiopia, request for a fresh brew of coffee...you will love it!! Teas and coffees are very healthy if you chose good brands. Can I get you a cuppa? Good stuff!!!
Care to join my weekend TEA/COFFEE Business meet-ups in Abuja? Quite Invigorating sessions!! Beverage sellers Sponsors are welcomed. Get intouch for participation/sponsorship details.
Jacqui IWU is a BodyImage, Life &Career Coach
A Stress Management Expert &Conference Speaker
Media Relations Personnel
BLOG: http://bluntjacqui.blogspot.com
TWITTER: @JacquiWORLD
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