Green Tea

I love green tea. It's a stimulating, yet soothing drink for an afternoon pick-me-up or to wash down an asian-inspired fusion meal prepared by yours truly. Lou and I drink it often and believe in the claims that green tea has antioxidants that are good for you. As Lou puts it, it's a lot better for you than soda. So, when I heard the news that the FDA announced that green tea consumption does not reduce the risk of cardiovascular desease, I was somewhat perplexed. Why in the world would they be picking on green tea while Americans continue to consume fast foods and transfats-things that are known to PROMOTE heart failure? Shouldn't they be re-focusing their efforts? Then I looked into the claim and understood that it was in response to a request from a green tea conglomerate who wanted the FDA to announce "that drinking at least five ounces of green tea a day may reduce the risk of heart disease", obviously in hopes of boosting sales. In light of these circumstances, I'm pleasantly satisfied that the FDA did not make that claim. Imagine if they had. American companies would start to market green tea drinks with added sugar and artificial flavorings and, of course, a miniscule amount of actual green tea. They'd likely charge upwards of $1 for a bottle of a green tea-based concoction that may taste good to the main stream American palate but bear little resemblance to it's antecedent. A bottled beverage with so few remaining antioxidants, who in their sea of additives, would be of no value to the reduction in the risk of heart desease . Not to mention all those bottles that would just add to our land fills. Did you know tea bags are compostable? And cost about 10 cents.