Recently, there have been a number of studies that prove that black tea has its own healthy benefits, so grab a cup and drink up as you read about the many health benefits of black tea.

Lower Blood Pressure

One Australian study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, randomly assigned 95 Australians with normal blood pressure to two different groups. One group was given black tea and the other a beverage with similar taste and caffeine content.

Participants drank their beverages three times per day for six months. At the end of the six months, the tea drinkers’ systolic blood pressure—the top number—fell 2 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) and the bottom number also fell 2 mm Hg.

Blood pressure readings less than 120/80 mm Hg are considered normal. High blood pressure is defined as a reading of 140/90 or above. People with a reading between the two are said to have “pre-hypertension.”

Reduced Risk of Stroke

A 15-year study by the Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and the Environment found a correlation between drinking black tea on a regular basis and reduced risk of stroke. 522 men participated in the study. The results showed that the flavanoids —phytonutrients with antioxidant benefits—in black tea helped reduce the production of LDL (bad cholesterol that can lead to stroke and heart attack.)

Another study by Dr. Joseph Vita at Boston’s School of Medicine ran for four months and included sixty men. They were divided into two groups and either drank four cups of tea or something similar each day. The ones who drank the tea were shown to have improved the functioning of their blood vessels, abnormal functioning of blood vessels can contribute to stroke or heart attack.

Saudi Arabia studied 3000 adults and found that regular consumption of black tea can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by fifty percent.

Low in Sodium, Fat and Calories

Substituting black tea that is unsweetened or sweetened with a low-calorie sweetener will help you to lose weight or simply control your weight. Since black tea is naturally low in sodium, fat and calories, you won’t be adding unneeded elements to your diet, Therefore, you will be allowing yourself to be in control of what you are drinking so that you don’t fall into the trap of drinking your calories.

Antioxidants A-plenty

Black tea contains an abundance of antioxidants. It’s made from the camellia tea plant and contains polyphenol, which is a type of antioxidant. Antioxidants have been found to help in everything from the treatment of brain injury cases to treatments against hearing loss and possibly Parkinson’s disease.

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If you don’t read the labels you won’t know what you are putting in your body. But what does all that mean? Learn about portion size, calorie counts and nutrients from Lee and Carol.

Plus you’ll learn why it’s important to read the labels ahd how companies fool you with those big words and hide ingredients you are trying to stay away from. Tune in and you will become a label expert.

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McCormick.com’s Gameday Recipes

Here you will find plenty of recipes for snacks, appetizers, 30-minute meals, dips, main dishes and desserts. The recipes come with their nutritional breakdown. You’ll also find tips to make game day fun by sporting your team’s colors with your drinks.

11 Different Snacks from Health.com

You won’t lack variety in what you serve your guests with recipes from this site. What I like most is that they have pictures of all the dishes, so you know exactly what you are getting into, before you attempt to make it. They also have plenty of ideas for dips, desserts and the most popular dishes for super bowl partiers.

Make it Healthier with Healthland

Try these 5 ways to make super bowl snacks healthier.  You don’t have to incorporate everything, but every little bit helps and you might just learn a thing or two.

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Please enjoy this guest post by fellow colleague Tanya Stroh

We should all strive to eat healthier. A lot has been written about how we should eat only organically grown foods. We have all heard about the benefits, but what exactly is Organic? Experts define Organic food/farming as ‘food that has been grown, raised and transported without chemicals, pesticides, hormones, fertilizers, or other additives on land or in soil that conforms to the standards of the organic certification board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.’ WebMD advises not to confuse “free-range,” “hormone free” or “natural” with Organic and be sure to look for the Organic Seal which means the food is grown according to USDA standards. The one great drawback to foods that bear the above labels is that they can cost as much as double the price of conventionally grown foods. So how do we eat healthy on a budget?

Start with the basics; keep it fresh, whole grains are best, avoid processed foods and eat lots of fruit and veggies. When you are tempted to grab the fast food “2 for $5” deal because it seems cheaper and easier than eating healthy give one or two of the below solutions a try.

1. Having a game plan is essential, plan your meals and snacks for the week, then make up your grocery store list. It is easy to save money and to avoid impulse buys, even if they are healthy, when you stick to your list and purchase only what you are going to eat.

2. Buy in bulk; in this case I am referring to anything that is not prepackaged. Not just produce, but also foods like seeds, nuts, grains, cheeses, rice and even pasta. This kind of bulk purchasing saves money because you are not paying extra for someone else to measure, pick, package and wrap it up. You also have control of the amount and the quality of the food you select. For fruits and veggies, always opt for whole and uncut, not only are they less expensive but they tend to be fresher, contain more essential nutrients and last longer.

3. Buying organic, as I mentioned earlier, is pricey, so only purchase it when necessary. The following is a list from WebMD of foods that are less susceptible to pesticide residue; papayas, broccoli, cabbage, bananas, kiwi, peas, asparagus, mangos, pineapples, corn, avocados & onions. Whether you are eating organic or conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, always wash ALL of them under running water, even if you are not eating the skin. It is also a good idea to scrub them with a vegetable brush.

4. Fresh produce is always less expensive when it is in season. Local farmers markets are a great source for in season foods. When possible preserve, can, jar or freeze fresh fruits and vegetables.

5. Frozen food is a great money saving alternative. Some experts even go so far as to say that frozen food has as much if not more nutritional value then fresh because it is picked and immediately flash frozen and packaged. Save even more when you stock up during a sale.

With just a little planning you can eat healthy on a budget. I would love to hear your money saving tips for healthy eating!

Be Fit, Be Healthy, Be Happy! ~ Tanya

Workout for a Fitter, Healthier You, it’s easy @ tanyastroh.com

Tanya Stroh, B.S., NSCA, ACE

Tanya is the founder and creator of Tanya Stroh Training Solutions, an on-line, fitness and personal training website, featuring uniquely, individualized workouts and the proprietary software technology, TS Trax. Tanya’s philosophy has always been that exercise along with a healthy diet & lifestyle produce the best results. Tanya’s clients, ranging in age from 12 to over 70 years old, have successfully improved and achieved their health and fitness goals because of her highly individualized approach to fitness. And now with Tanya Stroh Training Solutions so can YOU!

Tanya has dual national certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). She also holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Education/Physical Education from West Chester University.

As a contributing writer, Tanya is the fitness expert for the “Chester County Women’s Journal” and has provided fitness articles to Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong.com. She is a regularly featured fitness guest on the radio show “Mission Nutrition” which airs live and on-line. With her passion for fitness, Tanya has also spoken at numerous charity events including; cruiser weight boxer champion, Steve Cunningham’s Kids Camp.

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By The Editors of Prevention

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Dr. Oz is back in full force for his new season. I usually don’t watch a lot of daytime shows, but when I see something pertaining to weight loss or fitness, I’m all ears and eyes.

Prior to the airing of this episode, Dr. Oz conducted a poll on his website asking women to choose their biggest hurdle to overcome when trying to lose weight. He took the top three hurdles and discussed them on his show. I’m revealing them to you here and adding a little extra advice on top of it.

#3: Eating Out

Food is all around. Eating is one of the hardest parts of your weight loss journey to regulate because it’s a necessity. You really do need to eat. And because of your hectic lifestyle, a lot of the eating is done at restaurants.

Dr. Oz recommends visiting the websites of the restaurants that you plan to patronize and research their menu. That way, you will know exactly what you can order to help you stay on track with your weight loss plan. He also says not to take home a “doggy bag” because you will most likely eat it right away. But I say, go ahead and get a “doggy bag,” just don’t eat it when you get home, save it for lunch the next day.

One more suggestion is to order an appetizer and a salad or a couple veggies and make a meal out of that instead of ordering a regular-sized entrée. In addition, be the first to order, that way you aren’t tempted by what everyone else is ordering and you can relax, knowing that your diet is safe.

#2: Your Busy Schedule

Let’s face it, everyone is busy these days. In fact, if you meet someone that doesn’t have a lot going on in their life, you may think to yourself “What’s really going on with them??” So it’s no surprise that your schedule can get in the way of your weight loss program, if you allow it to.

Dr. Oz says to create an exercise box where you take index cards and write a different exercise on each card and drop them in the box. Each morning you reach into the box and choose one exercise and do it for fifteen minutes. It’s that easy and you can color it done for the day!

I’m going to throw in a little twist, instead of just writing down a single exercise, write “visit optimumbody” and get a whole workout. There are several videos that you can choose from on the site. Each video lasts 30 minutes, so now you’ve actually completed an entire workout for the day. You are well on your way to success!

Finally, the #1 hurdle, Loss of Motivation:

That’s a tough one! You are so motivated and raring to go, in the beginning, but as time goes on and you really start to get into the process, it becomes harder and harder to keep yourself motivated to keep going.

I love Dr. Oz’s solution: Treat it like an event

I always tell my clients to choose an event like a run or walk or some other type of physical event as a goal to work towards to help them stay motivated. But this idea of throwing a big party for yourself to celebrate your accomplishment is ideal! So set the date (12 weeks from now works well) and send out the invitations! Now that you’ve announced your goal celebration to the world, you’ll be less likely to lose steam before you actually reach your goal.

Use these solutions to the three biggest weight loss hurdles to help you make your weight loss journey a success.

Let me know what strategies you use to help you stay on track.

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