Category Archives: news

In an amazing study, both tea and coffee have been associated with a sharply lowered risk of glioma, a cancer that originates in the brain and spinal column. The association wasn’t small — just 0.4 cups of coffee a day was associated with a 34% reduction in gliomas.

The authors presented no mechanism for what role coffee and tea may play in the brain cancer reduction so at the moment it is unclear how the beverages work their magic or even if lifestyle differences between coffee/tea drinkers and non-drinkers may be the reason. However, the association is strong enough that researchers from several prestigious institutions were full of praise for the study.

Dr. John S. Yu from the Brain Tumor Center of Excellence at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles was quoted in USA Today as saying, “If we had a drug for any disease that could demonstrate a risk reduction of 34%, that would be considered a great drug. That degree of risk reduction is very strong.”

The study was also very large — 410,000 men and women were followed for 8.5 years, leading to more certainty about the study’s conclusions.

Very fascinating stuff… I wonder if one day these beverages will get a special compartment in the food pyramid taught to school children?

The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which has generously granted access to the full article via it’s website at the following link: Coffee and tea intake and risk of brain tumors in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort study.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/diet-nutrition/2010-11-19-coffee-tea-brain_N.htm?csp=34news

Assam tea is a perfect variety to make home-made iced milk-teas. The taste is strong so it blends well with milk and has a vaguely choclatey taste to it. This is usually my tea of choice from Teavana, so I was very surprised when I visited my local Teavana shop to see that the Assam tea is being discontinued! In fact, they had great big tins of it for sale at 75% off. I used the opportunity to snap up the store’s supply, so I’m good for at least a year… But what will I do when my stash runs out?

It was then that I read that Assam tea has set new price records at recent tea plantation auctions. The Telegraph from Calcutta reports that recent auction prices for Assam tea have increased to an all-time record early on in the auction season. Apparently this past year has been just perfect for the Assam variety and the resulting tea is very high quality.

So it sounds like my fears were unfounded — a quick Internet search has proven to me that there’s plenty of places to purchase Assam loose leaf tea and furthermore, the quality of the tea has never been better.

And finally, here’s my recipe for a perfect iced Assam milk-tea:

• 2 heaping tsp Assam black loose-leaf tea
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 4 tsp sugar (or to taste)
• 8 ice cubes
• 1 cup milk

Add the boiling water to the loose leaf tea and let it steep at least 3 minutes (over-steeping doesn’t affect the taste). Strain the tea leaves. Stir in the sugar. Plop in the 8 ice cubes and pour the milk on top.

Enjoy!