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In a nutshell * Dark chocolate, tea, apples, and grapes can significantly lower blood pressure, especially in people with hypertension, with effects comparable in size to standard medications. * These flavan-3-ol-rich foods also improve blood vessel function, offering heart health benefits beyond just blood pressure reduction. * Whole foods work better than supplements, and they come with minimal side effects, making them a safe, affordable addition to a heart-healthy lifestyle. ================================================================ GUILDFORD, England — Instead of buying the next trendy expensive supplement or exotic superfood, a morning cup of tea could do more for your blood pressure than you realize....

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat for one-on-one talks over tea on Thursday as they continued meetings in Moscow. The Kremlin released a video of Putin serving the drink to Xi after wider talks with their delegations.

A delivery driver has won $50 million in a lawsuit after being seriously burned when a Starbucks drink spilled in his lap at a California drive-through, court records show. A Los Angeles County jury found Friday for Michael Garcia, who underwent skin grafts and other procedures on his genitals after a venti-sized tea drink spilled instants after he collected it on Feb. 8, 2020. He has suffered permanent and life-changing disfigurement, according to his attorneys. Garcia's negligence lawsuit blamed his injuries on Starbucks, saying that an employee didn't wedge the scalding-hot tea firmly enough into a takeout tray. “This jury...

An estimated 6.7 million people in the US are living with Alzheimer’s dementia today, and this number could increase to 13.8 million by 2060, according to the NIH. While there are many lifestyle choices that could lower your risk of dementia — including maintaining a good diet, exercising regularly, socializing and keeping your mind stimulated — recent research suggests there’s one humble beverage that can slash your risk with just a few sips. A study out of Japan has found that older adults who regularly consume green tea have fewer cerebral white matter lesions, aResearchers asked almost 9,000 adults to...

It doesn’t take much digging through the vast array of coffee-making apparatuses, either at your local kitchen store or online, to get overwhelmed. There are drip machines, pod-machines, French presses — even this odd-looking contraption. When selecting the best brewer for you, you’ll want to consider a variety of factors: How fast is it? How much cleanup is required? How much coffee does your household consume? And of course, there’s taste. 1) Aeropress 2) Drip Machine 3) Pourover 4) French Press 5) Moka Pot 6) Pod Machine

Tea consumption offers protective effects on mortality among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a study. Jin Li, Ph.D. and colleagues examined the long-term impact of tea consumption among 17,575 patients with CKD from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 1999 to 2018. The researchers found there were 5,835 deaths during follow-up, including 1,823 cardiovascular-related deaths. Compared with never drinking tea, consuming up to four cups of tea per day was significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality among patients with CKD stage 1 to 2 (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.80 to 0.99; P...

Research has reported a significant connection between higher green tea consumption and fewer cerebral white matter lesions in older adults without dementia. Findings suggest that drinking three or more glasses of green tea daily may help protect brain health, while coffee consumption showed no significant effect. Cerebral white matter lesions, often indicative of small vessel disease, have been associated with cognitive decline, vascular dementia, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Data collection occurred between 2016 and 2018, including dietary assessments, MRI scans, and cognitive evaluations of 8,766 participants aged 65 and older. Brain MRI scans provided data on the volume of white...

Starbucks' early 2025 menu has been leaked online, and it appears big changes are ahead at the coffee chain. Called the "winter part two menu," it comes after Starbucks holiday menu was released in November with the likes of Cran-Merry Orange Refresher and a Turkey Sage Danish. The winter part two menu will allegedly drop on January 2, but food blogger @Markie_Devo got their hands on some major details ahead of time. Among the new options, there will be a revamped formula for matcha lattes. The new matcha powder will be completely unsweetened, rather than containing sugar as it has...

Research has characterized how polymer-based commercial tea bags release millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused. The study shows for the first time the capacity of these particles to be absorbed by human intestinal cells, and are thus able to reach the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. Plastic waste pollution represents a critical environmental challenge with increasing implications for the well-being and health of future generations. Food packaging is a major source of micro and nanoplastic (MNPLs) contamination and inhalation and ingestion is the main route of human exposure. A study has successfully obtained and characterized micro and nanoplastics...

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) suggested Wednesday that the ongoing spending battle in the House is being waged among Republicans, saying “I’m just gonna sit back.” “We’re looking at this like, this is their problem,” Crockett told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner. “We have seen this play out over and over in the entire two years that I’ve been in Congress.” “But here’s the deal: There is no fixing this without the Democrats,” Crockett added later in the interview. “We have seen this over and over, and I’m just gonna sit back and sip my tea and wait on them to figure it...

The Sommersett Case and the Slave Trade (1) It is said that some generous humane persons subscribed to the expence of obtaining liberty by law for Somerset the Negro.(2) It is to be wished that the same humanity may extend itself among numbers; if not to the procuring liberty for those that remain in our Colonies, at least to obtain a law for abolishing the African commerce in Slaves, and declaring the children of present Slaves free after they become of age. By a late computation made in America, it appears that there are now eight hundred and fifty thousand...

By getting governments to over-regulate farming, elite oligarchs like Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab aim to take control over food production in the name of sustainability. Besides ‘degrowth’ and ‘net zero,’ one other dangerous buzz phrase being bandied about by proponents of the Great Reset is “nature-positive food systems.” The stated goal of moving to new food systems is to reduce nitrogen emissions, livestock production, and meat consumption. This is to be achieved by consuming plant-based products, lab-grown foods, and insects (as a source of protein). The moot question, however, is whether such a change is at all necessary? The...

New research has found that those who consume more foods rich in flavonoids, such as berries, tea, red wine and dark chocolate, could lower their risk of dementia. Led by researchers, the study, reveals that increasing the intake of flavonoid-rich foods and drinks could help reduce the risk of developing the incurable illness. While age and genetics contribute substantially to the development of the disease, evidence has shown that risk factors such as diet, can play an important role in prevention. Flavoniods, primarily found in plant foods, have a range of health benefits, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. They...

Nearly 900,000 bags of tea are being recalled after officials detected excessive levels of pesticide residues, federal health officials warned. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a notice that 54,846 packs of East West Tea Company's Organic Yogi Echinacea Immune Support tea bags, are being recalled because "pesticide residues were detected above action levels." Each pack includes 16 tea bags, and there are four packs per box, equating to 877,536 bags of tea.

Greeks are not known for their love for tea, as are for example the British, Russians, and Turks. However, when it comes to tea, the first variety that a Greek would think of is “Chai tou vounou,” or Greek mountain tea. “Sideritis,” as it is officially known, has been used since ancient times as a medicine, as well as a refreshment. Ancient, medieval, and modern Greeks also used this herb to boost energy and memory, and up to the present day, it continues to be by far the most popular and famous herbal tea in the country. The term “sideritis”...

Research suggests that a cup of tea can help in the fight against COVID-19. Findings demonstrate how certain teas inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in saliva—in some cases by up to 99.9%. This is important because the virus infects and replicates inside the oral cavity, passing through the oropharynx before reaching the lungs. "Inactivating SARS-CoV-2 in the mouth and the throat matters because that potentially reduces the introduction of the virus to the lower respiratory system," Esseili said. Esseili and Julianna Morris studied 24 different types of commercially available teas, some of which claim to aid in respiratory health. Of those, they found...

The U.S. Embassy in London released an official statement to cool off this heated debate.We learned back in junior high history class that Americans and Brits have quite the contentious relationship regarding tea. And as of this week, when Michelle Francl, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, released her new book, she stirred the pot even more — so much so that the U.S. Embassy in London felt it necessary to step in. So what's Francl's proposition that's making waves across the pond? That your cup of tea is missing one very important ingredient that...

Drinking coffee and tea at midlife may be associated with a reduced likelihood of physical frailty in late life. A study has shown that adults, who consumed higher intake of caffeine via the drinking of coffee or tea, had significantly better physical function at late life. The study was conducted based on information collected from over 12,000 participants, aged 45 to 74 years old, over a follow-up period of 20 years. Coffee and tea were the main sources of caffeine intake in this cohort, accounting for 84% and 12% of total caffeine, respectively. A total of 68.5% of the participants...

Drinking dark tea every day may help to mitigate type 2 diabetes risk and progression in adults through better blood sugar control, suggests new research. The study found that compared with never tea drinkers, daily consumers of dark tea had 53% lower risk for prediabetes and 47% reduced risk for type 2 diabetes, even after taking into account established risk factors known to drive the risk for diabetes, including age, gender, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), average arterial blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, cholesterol, alcohol intake, smoking status, family history of diabetes and regular exercise. "Our findings hint at the...

In a pre-clinical, proof-of-concept study, researchers found that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea compound with powerful antioxidant properties, could be promising for both treating and preventing uterine fibroids. An estimated 77% of women will develop fibroids in their lifetime, most of them by age 50. Black and Hispanic women develop them at 1.5 to two times the rate of white women. While many people with uterine fibroids are without symptoms, about 25% experience significant symptoms including heavy uterine bleeding, pelvic pain and infertility. Uterine fibroids are the leading cause of hospitalization hysterectomy. In addition to complete removal of the...