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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I’ve also taken Nichols’ 10-step formula to another level and turned it into a helpful series of articles for you to use right now.

So let’s get started.

1. Reset Your Default Mode

Nichols begins by saying that many of you like to reside in “familiar discomfort.” That’s when you are so used to being stressed out about your lack of motivation to both get started and follow through on your weight loss plan that it feels normal. This is the part that you have to reset.

You must get out of this “normal” feeling and make a pact with yourself to do something about it. And not only do something by make a specific “something” plan, which includes when you will start, how much time you will devote to this plan and who will be on your support team to help you when the going gets tough.

Sometimes it’s more than just dealing with your situation, Nichols says that the first step is to admit that you are overwhelmed and acknowledge exactly where you are in this process. You have to start somewhere and this is a good a place as any. Your starting point is where you throw down the gauntlet and make a promise to yourself that this is where it all starts. You’ve admitted that you are lost in this process and you need help. Now you need to take the next step and put one foot in front of the other and get going.

Give yourself some time to really go through all the moving parts along with the people who have held you back and stopped you from achieving your weight loss goals.

Your assignment:

For this week, reflect on what has held you back and create some alternative strategies that will help you to avoid going through those situations all over again.

For example: If you couldn’t afford the gym before, can you this time? If not, what else will you do? You can clear out a place in your home to workout and get started there.

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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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Where does your food come from? How do you know you are getting all the nutrients that you need from the foods that you select?

Today, we are talking about food sources. We will discuss where you get the right nutrients from and which foods are the best sources for these nutrients.

It’s all about getting healthy and staying that way.

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