Michael Austin

The Flavor and Benefits of Sage

/in / / Michael Austin

Of the many herbs used to boost the flavor and benefits of tea, sage is among the most common. While many people already use the herb in cooking, they could be getting the added health benefits if they choose to steep a green tea blend with sage in it.

In fact, Sir Jason Winters believed sage is one of the best herbal options when it comes to creating a green tea blend. Our best selling herbal tea blend uses sage, and you can find it in loose leaf or tea bags in our shop.

For tea drinkers that haven’t had tea with other herbs added in, sage is a good place to start. The herb has an incredible flavor, and some of the potential health benefits could end up making your cup of green tea even better for you.

The Potential Benefits of Sage
Sage may offer tons of benefits, many of which work in conjunction with the benefits already found in green tea.

Some of the main benefits found in sage are the anti-inflammatory agents. Chemicals found in sage are great for reducing the inflammation in ailing areas. So, if you are suffering from an inflammation that is leading to respiratory problems, sage is going to help.

Also, much like green tea, sage is full of antioxidants. The more antioxidants you have in your system, the easier it will be for your body to slow the degeneration of cells. Antioxidants also slow the mutation process, so your cells will continue to replicate with a smaller chance of deterioration.

While sage has many other benefits that work in conjunction with green tea, it also offers specific benefits that you won’t get from a normal herbal blend. For example, sage is full of vitamin K. This vitamin is essential for keeping up the health of your bones, and a higher vitamin K intake is going to lead to denser bones. This is particularly important for green tea drinkers who are worried about weakening bone strength.

What Does Sage Taste Like?
Flavor-wise, it’s tough to go wrong with sage. There’s a good chance that you’ve had sage before, if not recently. The flavors that you get out of sage when prepared with food aren’t far from the flavors with tea, but the combination creates a unique and very pleasant flavor.

When paired with our Herbal Green Tea Blend, the flavor of sage is used to complement the natural green tea flavors.

Also, there isn’t much that smells better than a cup of green herbal tea with sage. You might end up making it just for the aroma!

Sage is a common herb, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t special in any way. Green tea drinkers have been adding sage to their blends for a long time, and if you’re ready to get some more health benefits with an awesome flavor, then you should try an herbal blend with sage, too!

Michael Austin

Does Sweetening Tea Ruin Its Healthiness?

/in / / Michael Austin

With all the flavors and blends that come along with green tea, it’s hard to imagine that there isn’t something out there for everyone. Different herbal combinations can create awesome flavors that can’t be replicated in any other way.

Even with the myriad of tea flavors available, there are still people who can’t stomach a drink without it being sweet enough.

Sweeteners have been around for a long time, and sweetening tea is a practice so common that cafes and restaurants offer sugar to anyone who orders tea.

While you’re still drinking the same green tea as other people, adding something to the blend is bound to change what it does for you. Does sweetening your tea actually ruin the healthiness of green tea?

The Bad of Sweetening Tea

As you could probably expect, adding sugar to your tea is going to have a negative effect on healthiness.

Before you stop drinking tea with sugar in it entirely, just consider what happens when you add sugar to your drink. There’s nothing in sugar that counteracts the health benefits of tea, so no matter how much sugar you add, you’re still going to be getting the same nutrients.

But the amount of sugar you add is where the problem starts. Sugar is linked to tons of health problems, including an increased risk of cancer, diabetes and a higher chance of dying from heart disease.

So, even though green tea is good for fighting cancer, adding sugar to the drink could potentially cause more harm than good.

Naturally, this depends on how much sugar you’re adding to your tea. The numbers get complex, depending on how much tea you drink a day, how much sugar you add, your age, weight, height, gender and how much other sugar you consume daily.

The bottom line is that if you want to get more health benefits than not, you should cut back on the sugar you use – or cut it out entirely.

Interestingly, milk in tea could be even worse than sugar. The proteins found in milk can bind the catechins in tea, making them entirely useless. Not only are you getting the negative health benefits that can come with milk, but you’re losing the benefits of tea.

The Good of Sweetening Tea

Tea drinkers understand that there are multiple ways to sweeten your tea. Some artificial sweeteners, like Stevia, are going to be relatively harmless.

But an interesting additive people should try out is honey – and it’s interesting for what it can do.

Honey is naturally good at helping you keep your weight low, relieve cold symptoms and boost your antioxidants. If you know much about green tea, then you know that these are also all health benefits you can get from tea leaves.

By combining green tea with honey, you could actually be boosting the positive effects of both. That’s pretty great, especially if you’re looking for a quick, tasty remedy for a cold.

Of course, using too much honey or tea could end up being bad for you. Honey still contains fructose, a type of sugar. Too much sugar is never going to be good, no matter how healthy the food item is in smaller doses. Consider using a raw honey with no additives.

To get the most of your sweetened tea, just make sure to cut out a bit of your sweetener. A cup of tea on its own is stuffed with benefits, and you don’t want to counteract those because your sweetener isn’t as healthy as you thought.

If you typically drink green tea with a sweetener, we recommend trying one of our herbal blends. The flavors could be more than enough for you to cut that sweetener out!