Healthy Eating: Healthy Foods and Recipes

Green Tea Benefits

Healthy Foods

We all know that health is wealth. Everything will be okay if we can maintain good health. A sound health is necessary for sound mind. So we have to take healthy foods in order to maintain sound mind too. There is a misconception that healthy foods mean rich foods. It is not correct actually. There are available cheap foods that are beneficial to our health. Healthy foods exist in our surroundings.

Healthy foods are those food items that provide good amount of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, minerals and other nutritional components. For breakfast we may take bread, egg, jelly, milk or tea. During lunch rice is preferable to the Asians. Rice with vegetable curry, small fish and dal (pulse) is suitable. Sometimes meat and egg will make your meal palatable. You can take biscuits along with tea in the afternoon. Try to avoid heavy foods during this time. When you are going to have your dinner, try to eat bread instead of rice because it can make you fatty. Bread with vegetable curry is perfect. Try to have a glass of milk every day before you are going to sleep. You need to avoid taking too much chocolate, caffeine or alcohol. If you are already addicted to smoking, you must give up this type of bad habit. Smoking is injurious to health.

Fruits and vegetables constitute healthy foods. So try to eat any kind of fruit daily.

Introduction to Caffeine

Today I am going to share an important topic. It is about caffeine. 

Caffeine is a very common substance and is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate, and "stay-awake" pills such as Vivarin. It can be synthesized or isolated from natural sources. Caffeine constitutes approximately 4% of tea and coffee leaves, and is also found in cola nuts and cacao beans.

In Humans, Caffeine acts to stimulate the heart, central nervous system, and the respiratory system. Blood pressure is increased by its use, since heart rate is increased, as is contraction force and volume output. It is a diuretic and has the effect of delaying fatigue. Caffeine has a bitter taste but no smell. There is research linking high Caffeine consumption in pregnant women to the malformation of their children.

Caffeine is addictive to Humans. Regular consumption of drinks and food containing the drug reduce sensitivity to its effects, causing the body to become over-sensitive to adenosine. This causes a decrease in blood pressure, severe headaches, dizziness and tiredness. People have been known to die after ingesting large quantities of Caffeine, but it would take approximately 100 cups of coffee to reach these levels.

Caffeine is an alkaloid, and, more specifically, a member of the methylxanthines. Thus, Caffeine is closely related to theophylline and theobromine. Pure Caffeine takes the form of white, hexagonal crystals, which can be broken into a soft powder. It has a melting point of 235 ^oC - 238 ^oC, and a molecular weight of 194.19 g/mol. It is easily soluble in Chloroform and partially soluble in water.

If you want to know further please let me know. I will try my best to let you know the update. Thanks.

Thesis on "Pruning and Pesticide Condition in the Tea Estates of Bangladesh"

My thesis program is going to be started very soon. I am a student of "Food Engineering and Tea Technology" in Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Lecturer Mahfuz Rahman is my supervisor. He is very expert in this sector. I am trying to start my thesis in the Malnicherra tea garden and my subject is however, tea related. I am very much interested in this subject. I will try my best to sort out the problems regarding plucking and pesticide condition. I will visit the gardens and talk to the workers, after that I will post them in my blog. I will also upload the pictures and video also. Thanks. Let me know further if you have any opinion. Don't hesitate to share.

Health Benefits of Tea Drinking

There are so many health benefits of drinking tea. I enlisted some points while working on this issue. The points are given below.

1. If we drink tea regularly for years our bones will be stronger and it is proven.
2. Research suggests that older women who are tea drinkers are 60 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who do not drink tea.
3. Both green and black teas have been credited with cancer-inhibiting powers.
4. In a recent study it is found that, people who gargled with a black tea extract solution twice per day showed a higher immunity to flu virus compared to the people who did not gargle with black tea.
5. In a study it is found that, people who drink about a cup and a half of tea per day are almost 40% less likely to suffer a heart attack compared to tea abstainers.
6. Recent research suggests drinking tea may help prevent everything from cavities to Parkinson's disease.  
7. Rinsing with tea may prevent dental cavities and gum disease.
8. Drinking a half-cup of green or oolong tea per day reduces a person's risk of high blood pressure by almost 50%.
9. It reduces extraweight of our body.
10. Consumption of tea reduces the risk of various skin problems.    

So enjoy tea party regularly and be cheerful. I’m waiting for your response. If you want to know further from me or share anything regarding this issue, don’t hesitate to express or contact. I will be glad if you like this article.

Water Used for Tea Manufacturing and Tea Brewing

While manufacturing tea in the tea processing industry and brewing tea in our kitchen, it is mandatory to ensure safe and germ free water in every stage because water has an effect on the quality of tea. But it is usually found that we are not so serious on this particular issue. Impure water reduces the quality and hence the value of teas.

Desirable Characteristics of Water:

1. Water having a pH value of 6.7 to 7.2 is recommended for washing machineries, fermenting floor etc. in the manufacturing industry. Slightly acidic water (pH 6.7) is better than slightly alkaline water (pH 7.2). Such slightly acidic water will make the tea infusion brighter. Continuous use of even slightly alkaline water will make the tea infusion 'dull'. Therefore, alkaline water should never be used for washing fermenting floor etc.
2. Iron content of more than 2 ppm (parts per million) is detrimental to tea quality.
3. The total content of chemicals causing temporary and permanent hardness should not exceed 10 ppm.

The following analyses for water are necessary:

1. Total solids

2. Total hardness temporary and permanent

3. Acidity or alkalinity

4. Quantitative analyses of magnesium, calcium, sulphate, chloride and carbonate

5. Bacteria per cubic centimeter

Effect of Water Quality on Tea Brew:

The water used to brew tea significantly affects the color and the taste of a cup of tea. Tea brewed in permanently hard water (which contains calcium sulphate) appears brighter than if it is brewed in temporary hard water (that contains calcium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate). The desirable brisk taste of tea is created by the interaction of two of its main components caffeine and polyphenols. Each component is harsh individually but as a complex the compounds moderate each other.

High pH water that contains bicarbonates makes the infusion look darker brown due to the greater ionization of the polyphenols, while lower pH of the infusion turns yellow. As for taste some teas are more suited to soft water such as orthodox manufactured Assam leaf, while CTC manufactured teas are better with temporary hard water