Green Tea For Me!

 I have avoided coffee, tea, and anything with caffeine in it for a very long time now because caffeine would spike my blood pressure significantly.   But my blood pressure has been normal for quite a while now and recently, back in October, I did a little "test" to see how it'd affect my blood pressure now.  I was at an early morning function, was tired, and there was plenty of coffee available.   So I had a cup.  Then two.  Then three.   Before long I was riding a caffeine buzz I hadn't experienced in years.   Then when I left, I drove to the pharmacy to check my blood pressure!   It was slightly elevated from what it normally is these days, but still well within normal acceptable range.   In comparison, years ago, even one cup of coffee would spike my blood pressure 20-25 points on top of my normal every day already too-high blood pressure.  

 So I decided I'd consider adding coffee back into my normal routine.    But is coffee healthy?   I've heard lots of pros and cons over the years.   Many insist coffee is a wonder drug.  Many insist it's straight from the devil.  Who to trust?    I trust Dr. McDougall, who's take on diet and nutrition have helped me lose over 250 pounds...    and you can read what he has to say about coffee in his July 2004 Newsletter.

Okay, so coffee was out.   But what about tea?   Apparently there is good news about tea!  Check out Dr. McDougall's October 2004 Newsletter. Tea is linked with all sorts of beneficial things, including longer life, cancer avoidance, and weight loss!

Real world application?    This is purely anecdotal, but as you know if you've been following my blog, I recently went through a period of time were my weight loss stalled and the scale would not budge.  The two things I changed up when the scale started moving again was to add back in walking to my routine, and to add in 2 cups of green tea every day.   The walking helped, which I knew it would, having had it as part of my routine for quite a while in the past.  But the scale has been moving much more dramatically than I'd have ever thought based upon my experience in the past.    Is the green tea helping with my weight loss?    I don't know!  It can't hurt.  There is evidence that suggests it might, and my weight loss kicked back up after adding in the green tea.    That's enough for me to keep with it, and to present it to you for your consideration!

 Happy Eating!

-Norm  aka  John Smith