On the left: regular green tea. On the right: microwave boosted. Not that you can tell from the picture.
It’s been a rough news week, and it’s only Wednesday. Fortunately, though, today’s raging controversy is about tea. Is it okay to microwave it? Is it better to microwave it? Australian research says yes, while tea aficionados worldwide recoil in horror.
The idea is to help people get the health benefits of green tea, without having to guzzle five or more cups a day. Regular brewing can extract 62 percent of the tea leaves’ catechins and 76 percent of the caffeine. The microwave boost gets you up to 80 and 92 percent. That’s not a huge difference, but hey, it’s something.
So how does it taste? I brewed two cups of plain green tea, letting one steep for three minutes and doing the microwave protocol, which took about three minutes anyway. I dunked and squeezed both tea bags as I removed them.
They tasted almost identical, although I could detect a little more of a bitter and astringent taste in the one that had been microwaved. Vuong and crew write in their paper that tea brewed this way can be a little stronger, so you may want to use a flavored green tea instead of a plain one, to cover up any tastes you don’t like.
One problem: I don’t love green tea. And a lot of the British outlets reporting on this study are probably with me on that. Black tea is probably what they’re thinking of. So I brewed some more tea for science, this time a mango-chili flavored black tea. Again, they were similar but the microwaved tea was slightly more bitter and astringent. It also had more of the chili flavoring, which was nice.
If you are fussy about how you prepare your black tea, you probably know that steeping it too long can make it bitter. Flavor-wise, this technique is just a quicker way to steep it too long. That said, it’s not bad. If you’re already the kind of person who steeps a teabag for more than five minutes, or who might even use the same teabag more than once (which my favorite fancy café actually recommends, so spare me the “how dare youâ€), you’ll like this just fine.
Professional Scope of Practice *
The information herein on "Microwaving Your Tea Boosts Its Antioxidants, But How Does It Taste?" is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.
Blog Information & Scope Discussions
Welcome to El Paso's Premier Wellness, Personal Injury Care Clinic & Wellness Blog, where Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, FNP-C, a Multi-State board-certified Family Practice Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BC) and Chiropractor (DC), presents insights on how our multidisciplinary team is dedicated to holistic healing and personalized care. Our practice aligns with evidence-based treatment protocols inspired by integrative medicine principles, similar to those found on this site and our family practice-based chiromed.com site, focusing on restoring health naturally for patients of all ages.
Our areas of multidisciplinary practice include Wellness & Nutrition, Chronic Pain, Personal Injury, Auto Accident Care, Work Injuries, Back Injury, Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, Migraine Headaches, Sports Injuries, Severe Sciatica, Scoliosis, Complex Herniated Discs, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain, Complex Injuries, Stress Management, Functional Medicine Treatments, and in-scope care protocols.
Our information scope is multidisciplinary, focusing on musculoskeletal and physical medicine, wellness, contributing etiological viscerosomatic disturbances within clinical presentations, associated somato-visceral reflex clinical dynamics, subluxation complexes, sensitive health issues, and functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions.
We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for musculoskeletal injuries or disorders.
Our videos, posts, topics, and insights address clinical matters and issues that are directly or indirectly related to our clinical scope of practice.
Our office has made a reasonable effort to provide supportive citations and has identified relevant research studies that support our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies upon request to regulatory boards and the public.
We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how they may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to discuss the subject matter above further, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, APRN, FNP-BC, or contact us at 915-850-0900.
We are here to help you and your family.
Blessings
Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, APRN, FNP-BC*, CCST, IFMCP, CFMP, ATN
email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com
Multidisciplinary Licensing & Board Certifications:
Licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) in Texas & New Mexico*
Texas DC License #: TX5807, Verified: TX5807
New Mexico DC License #: NM-DC2182, Verified: NM-DC2182
Multi-State Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN*) in Texas & Multi-States
Multistate Compact APRN License by Endorsement (42 States)
Texas APRN License #: 1191402, Verified: 1191402 *
Florida APRN License #: 11043890, Verified: APRN11043890 *
License Verification Link: Nursys License Verifier
* Prescriptive Authority Authorized
ANCC FNP-BC: Board Certified Nurse Practitioner*
Compact Status: Multi-State License: Authorized to Practice in 40 States*
Graduate with Honors: ICHS: MSN-FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner Program)
Degree Granted. Master's in Family Practice MSN Diploma (Cum Laude)
Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, APRN, FNP-BC*, CFMP, IFMCP, ATN, CCST
My Digital Business Card
RN: Registered Nurse
APRNP: Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
FNP: Family Practice Specialization
DC: Doctor of Chiropractic
CFMP: Certified Functional Medicine Provider
MSN-FNP: Master of Science in Family Practice Medicine
MSACP: Master of Science in Advanced Clinical Practice
IFMCP: Institute of Functional Medicine
CCST: Certified Chiropractic Spinal Trauma
ATN: Advanced Translational Neutrogenomics
Avoiding Common Christmas Accidents: Prevention and Recovery with Integrative Chiropractic Care The Christmas season… Read More
Best Magnesium for Pain Relief in Personal Injury Cases: Insights from El Paso, TX Chiropractor… Read More
Personal Injury Recovery: Fitness vs. Wellness and the Role of Exercise and Chiropractic Care in… Read More
Find out how a clinical approach to opioid use disorder can lead to improved outcomes… Read More
Discover how a clinical approach to pain management uses opioid therapy to address pain issues… Read More
Holiday Gut Health and Pain Management: Insights from El Paso, TX Chiropractor Dr. Alexander Jimenez… Read More
Personal Injury, Trauma & Spine Rehab Specialists