DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Legend has it that tea was discovered by Chinese emperor Shen Nong. Here’s a fascinating article about an exhibit at UCLA about the history of tea:

A little background makes the significance of tea in world history even more remarkable. Like salt in ancient times, tea, because of its exclusive botany and particular climate and soil requirements, became an invaluable necessity and a desirable trading commodity.

Tea comes from a single plant, camellia sinensis, native to southeastern Asia. The Chinese multiple-stem shrub (var. sinensis) has small leaves that protect it against cold weather, while the Indian single-stem plant (var. assamica) thrives in subtropical and rainy regions. The difference in color’black, green, oolong, yellow, red or white’depends on the varying levels of oxidation. Black teas are fully oxidized, white teas are nonoxidized. Chamomile, rooibos and herbal beverages are derived from other plants; they are infusions, not teas.

While we may be accustomed to drinking loose-leaf tea stored in a tin or a bag, tea may also be compressed or powdered. During the Tang dynasty (619-907), tea was molded into bricks and then shaved and boiled in a cauldron. The custom of grinding tea into powder to form cakes or whisk with hot water in a tea bowl followed. The first teapots specifically designed for brewing loose-leaf tea were created in the 1500s. These early, unglazed vessels were designed and produced in Yixing, in eastern China. They were never washed, simply rinsed out with cold water, which resulted in the interior of the pot developing a residual layer of tea.

The father of tea, according to legend, was the Chinese emperor Shen Nong, who tasted tea accidentally one summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm. He and his servants stopped to rest, and in accordance of the emperor’s ruling that drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution, he awaited his servants’ preparations. Dried leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water and a brown liquid was infused into the water. As a scientist, Shen Nong is credited with identifying hundreds of medical and poisonous herbs by personally testing their properties. Tea, which acts as an antidote against the poisonous effects of some 70 herbs, was an important discovery indeed.

Tea found its way to Japan along with Buddhism during the Heian period (794-1185) by monks who had traveled to China to study Zen and believed the beverage enhanced religious meditation. The custom spread to the royal court and was given imperial sponsorship, which elevated it to an art form and the creation of the Japanese Tea Ceremony, known as chanoyu (‘hot water for tea’).

Green tea has many great benefits. But to maximize its healthy effects, take it with a little vitamin C:

So you know all about the fantastic health benefits of green tea, but did you know the picture is not all rosy? Most of the catechins—the good stuff of green tea that fights free radicals and lowers your risk of chronic disease—never make it into your bloodstream. In fact, as much as 80% of the catechins in green tea lose their potency in the intestine and are never absorbed.

However, as Dr. Oz explains in his article on RealAge.com, recent studies have found that adding a squeeze of citrus juice to your green tea greatly boosts your body’s absorption of the good stuff. Researchers believe that the vitamin C in these juices increases the acidity in your small intestine, which may aid in the absorption of catechins.

It’s well known that tea, especially green tea, can be very good for you:

Archeological evidence suggests that people consumed tea leaves steeped in boiling water as many as 500,000 years ago. Botanical evidence indicates that India and China were among the first countries to cultivate tea. Today, hundreds of millions of people drink tea around the world, and studies are now suggesting that green tea (Camellia sinesis) in particular has many health benefits.

There are three main varieties of tea — green, black, and oolong. The difference between the teas is in their processing. Green tea is made from unfermented leaves and reportedly contains the highest concentration of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Antioxidants are substances that scavenge free radicals — damaging compounds in the body that alter cells, tamper with DNA (genetic material), and even cause cell death. Free radicals occur naturally in the body, but environmental toxins (including ultraviolet rays from the sun, radiation, cigarette smoke, and air pollution) also give rise to these damaging particles. Many scientists believe that free radicals contribute to the aging process as well as the development of a number of health problems, including cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants such as polyphenols in green tea can neutralize free radicals and may reduce or even help prevent some of the damage they cause.

Green tea has been consumed throughout the ages in India, China, Japan, and Thailand. In traditional Chinese and Indian medicine, practitioners used green tea as a stimulant, diuretic (to promote the excretion of urine), astringent (to control bleeding and help heal wounds), and to improve heart health. Other traditional uses of green tea include treating flatulence (gas), regulating body temperature and blood sugar, promoting digestion, and improving mental processes.

Its use goes back thousands of years and is one of life’s simple pleasures:

The next time you sip a cup of tea, think of its health benefits. For example, its antioxidant properties are purported to reduce the risk and progression of cancer, boost the immune system and increase metabolism.

Legend has it that more than 4,000 years ago in 2,737 BC, tea was discovered by Chinese Emperor Shennong quite by chance. A dead leaf had fallen into his drinking water while it was boiling under the tree.

He unwittingly drank it and was so taken by the refreshing effect of the tea leaf that he named it cha (tea in Mandarin).

Tea drinking soon spread across the country and became a symbol of Chinese high culture, which later travelled to other parts of Asia, Europe, the Americas and Russia. However, beyond its social symbolism, tea was an important form of medicine used by early physicians.

Since ancient times, the Chinese have been using tea to improve their health and to cure illnesses, said Chin Chew Seng, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physician and senior trainer at Eu Yan Sang in Singapore.

It is not known when tea was first used for its medicinal value but the earliest records were traced back to the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD).

Today, there are about 1,500 varieties of tea according to the United Kingdom Tea Council. Only the leaves from the camellia sinensis species of plants are considered tea.

Try one of the many teas we offer.