Tea is the new Snob Drink

Wine move out theway. The days of being the drink of the elite are done. Evertything connassieurs knew is wrong and gone.
Reds come in sweet sparkling varieties that are served cold and white zinfandel is not the only grown up fruit punch for ladies’ evenings (Actually, I prefer white sangria, my personal recipe).
I know these styles of wine exist. I was just at a wine tasting this weekend that featured both the red and a reisling with no pomp and circumstance to sip, no swirling or sniffing involved, no swishing and spitting.






This would all look a little ridiculous drinking out of plastic dixie cups, and maybe it is part of the sexual avante gaurde revolution, but spitting is out of the question (at least at public tastings, dirty minds).
Wine has been getting a little bit of bad publicity for a while, especially after droves of soccer moms were getting busted in their mini vans with the kids in the car for non-other than drinking and driving (Oops).
Our playdate secret is finally out. Yes, we ladies who lunch do enjoy the occasional glass to get ourselves giddy and take the edge off parenting.
Hold the hate mail. I didn't say everyone of us.
I said some and articles in places like Newsweek and The New York Times spoke of this phenomena.
Apparently, women behave badly in their personal time, but without the golf/poker/softball outing, business lunch, or conference as an escape that some men enjoy the personal time is not independent time.
Moms multitask, apparently with the kids in tow.
So, with wine past its prime, where are people to go for the new uber elite social drink?
Tea is the new snob drink.
It’s no surprise, at least not to me, tea is taking over as the new socially acceptable pass time drink, especially with this new health conscious movement.
And it is a movement.
Whether you are fighting to stay healthy in American because you can’t afford to get sick or you’re fighting to stay healthy while already sick, either way, you are trying to stay healthy.
As nice as it would be to stay this is due to our increased consciousness of how we need to treat our bodies, I don’t think that’s true.
It’s not for me anyway. I’ve always been aware and loving towards my body and it’s health. Now, I just straight up can not afford to be sick much longer.
Many, many American’s are agreeing with me as they lose their jobs and see their health insurance, if not lost, cut back, or start receiving their monthly COBRA bills.
There is certainly a reason the acronym for this “gray area of health care” is called COBRA. This bill will take your head right off when you open it with one swiping motion and it is certainly lethal to your bank account and credit rating.
Really, what if someone told you that you would now only make two-thirds of your salary (from a lay off) and that you would need to pay a COBRA for health insurance at $1600 a month for your family. Then, if you get sick, this COBRA coverage for $1600 a month has a $4000 deductible.
I’m not making this up. These are real numbers, from real people. This is definitely some “funny math.”
Of course tea, with its long history of legendary medicinal properties is rising in popularities’ with the mom’s a twenty-somethings.
I’m talking it is now the drink of connoisseurs that requires ceremony prior to its drinking and strict preparation to qualify as “acceptable.”
This drink was once wine, now with the new health trend, it’s tea.
I spotted this trend while looking into information regarding tea as a phyto food (Fight ‘Oh food).
What I discovered is yes, many scientific studies from many countries show the benefits of tea, specifically green teas, but also some light teas but not often the black/pekoe types.
I have found some American studies recommending black teas, but their research is not as advanced.
I’ve read, frequently, that 2-3 cups a day of green tea significantly alters the way your body combats bacteria, viruses, etc.
I also read a USC study that green tea, a natural protease inhibitor, completely cancels any effect from receiving the study drug velcade.
Guess who tried velcade and drank a whole lot of green tea during the period?
Who would have guessed two products with the same mechanism of action in the body would not potentiate each other, but cancer one another out?
I wanted to take the green tea approach anyway. Velcade creeped me out.
Actually, Dr. Alyea and I butted heads about the velcade trial drug upon my signing the consent. He said yes, the drug was necessary. I said no, I didn’t understand the reasoning.
That is a story to tell later, but I chuckled just a little bit inside when I read I had completely undone the study work with velcade by drinking green tea.
Thankfully, velcade had given me some neurological problems associated with it’s administration (a common side effect I was not aware of) that manifested in an increased peripheral neuropathy and excruciating migraines.
These are now gone, and I do think it is due to the complementary approaches I have taken, such as drinking green tea, taking flax seed oil and fish oil. I also use magnesium glycoxilate, 600mg daily, for my migraines.
Any natural drink with this kind of power is bound to be vogue, and not just in health nuts, it’s trickling down to mainstream moms and church groups.
Tea is in.
It’s popping up EVERYWHERE, from mom play groups in Hanover, New Hampshire to church luncheons in New York City to promote advocacy projects (Holla Cheena).
There are hundreds of varieties. There are different methods of preparing tea for it’s maximum health benefits. It can be combined with herbs to potentiate the desired effect.
How much fun could a bored hermit like me have with making teas? The sky is the limit.
I have all ready started, picking blossom after blossom of dandelions (yes, the weeds) to make jelly and tea to research the long standing Native American belief that these “weeds” actually profide medicinal benefits such as liver detoxification.
As of two weeks ago, my liver enzymes have normalized. There was a significant period where I had increased liver enzymes that showed significant liver failure, or at the very least, the growth of a tumor in this area.
How great is that?
As if I need to make another point towards the benefits, but tea is completely socially acceptable among the ladies at playdates, and to be fair, stay at home dads.
Take it from a lady who lunches, the days of two bloody mary playgroups and margarita lunches are dwindling.
Teas are it in a big way.
I’m leaving now to play in my herb garden, hoping to whip up some fun, tasty, and health improving recipes this season.