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chinesegreenteagoldentriangle · 10 months

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Chinese medicine says tea, are you drinking it right?

Today, I shared an article from the overseas edition of People's Daily, which featured a personal experience of drinking tea by Dr. Zhang Dong, the Chief Physician of the Cardiology Department at Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. After reading Dr. Zhang's experience, it may challenge some of our perceptions about tea drinking. In popular belief, it has always been considered improper to drink tea on an empty stomach as it can cause discomfort, especially when drinking green tea. However, it seems that the reality is not entirely as we thought.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to share my personal experience with tea drinking. I have been a tea enthusiast for over 30 years and I have some digestive issues, including gastric ulcers and excessive stomach acid. Nevertheless, I can be called a 'tea addict.' I don't smoke or drink alcohol, but I am addicted to tea. I am the kind of person who would rather give up meat than give up tea. I remember starting to enjoy tea when I was in my teens, and my favorite is green tea. I love green tea because it is mainly produced in my hometown, which is located in the core area of China's green tea production known as the 'Golden Triangle.' The ecological environment there is exceptionally good, free from industrial pollution. Therefore, the quality of green tea is very high. Almost every household cultivates tea, which is why I have a special fondness for green tea and its refreshing aroma and taste.

I have a daily ritual of 'three brews' when it comes to drinking tea. By 'three brews,' I don't simply mean changing the water three times. The concept of 'three brews' refers to the following routine: after breakfast, I must brew a cup (or a pot) of tea. I drink the tea before starting work or while working. The second brew is in the afternoon. If I take a nap, I discard the tea leaves from the morning brew and brew a fresh cup with new tea leaves. The third brew is in the evening. I have a habit of taking a walk after dinner, usually in the park for about an hour. When I return home, I brew another cup of tea and savor it slowly. This has been my tea-drinking habit for over 30 years.

I prefer strong-tasting tea, so the tea I drink is usually concentrated. It has been like this all along. If it's too weak, I feel it lacks flavor. Also, the water temperature for brewing tea must be above 90 degrees Celsius because if the water temperature is too low, the fragrance and flavor of the tea won't be fully released. Therefore, I don't like brewing tea with low-temperature water.

In the blink of an eye, it has been over 30 years of drinking tea. I can't claim that tea is a miraculous cure-all, but I rarely get sick, not to mention serious illnesses. Even common colds are rare for me. It has been like this for decades. I haven't even used my health insurance card once. I found that my immune system is robust. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, I didn't get infected, not even once. Isn't that surprising? I wonder if my strong immune system has anything to do with my regular tea drinking. Of course, apart from drinking tea, maintaining good lifestyle habits is also crucial.

Drinking tea does have benefits for the body, especially green tea. However, it's important to remember not to treat tea as a miraculous cure-all. We should approach it with the mindset expressed in the ancient Chinese book 'Huangdi Neijing': 'Treat before illness manifests, and regulate before disorder occurs.' Because drinking tea not only promotes health but also nurtures the mind.

The following is a forwarded article：

When I was young, I only knew of two types of tea: 'big bowl tea' and 'Biluochun' (a type of green tea). It was later, when I studied traditional Chinese medicine, that I discovered tea is also a medicinal herb. For example, Chuanxiong Tea is mentioned in the book 'Compendium of Materia Medica': 'Tea leaves have a bitter and sweet taste. They enter the Hand and Foot Shaoyin, Taiyin, and Jueyin meridians. Its function is to clear the heart and lungs, cleanse the intestines and stomach. When combined with chrysanthemum, it treats headaches; when combined with ginger, it relieves water retention and can be consumed after drinking alcohol, entering the Bladder and Kidney meridians.' However, tea is inherently cool in nature, and I have a weak and cold spleen and stomach constitution. I remember one time when I drank Pu'er tea, I had to rush to the restroom halfway through. After that, I rarely drank tea. But one chance encounter changed my perspective.

Not long ago, I was strolling around the Wudaoying Hutong near the Yonghe Temple in Beijing when I came across a small shop. The owner of the shop was a good friend of mine who invited me to try Biluochun tea. It is a type of green tea. It was dinner time, and I hesitated to drink green tea on an empty stomach. So I politely declined. But my friend said, 'Give it a try, I guarantee it won't be cooling to your body.' She explained that this tea came from an 80-year-old tea tree growing on a sunny slope in the mountains near Dongting Lake. It was the first harvest of Mingqian tea, hand-picked and processed using firewood, making it different from other green teas. Unable to resist her persuasion, I sat down and tasted this Biluochun tea. After a few cups, to my surprise, my stomach and intestines felt slightly warm and comfortable, with no signs of diarrhea. I let out a few belches and felt quite at ease, and surprisingly, I felt a sense of fullness. I stayed until 8:00 PM, drinking tea on an empty stomach without any discomfort. I even felt a slight sense of fullness and didn't feel hungry. The warm tea entered my stomach, and I started to sweat slightly, feeling incredibly comfortable. Later, my friend gave me some Biluochun tea to take home, and every time I drank it, I had the same experience. It seemed far from being a mere coincidence.

This chance encounter changed my perception of tea, especially green tea, and reminded me of an elder who once said that his father, in his nineties, had been drinking tea his whole life and lived a long and healthy life. Now I realize it's not just due to constitution. Recently, I have been pondering on this and suddenly had a realization.

Although the nature of tea is generally considered cool, whether it ultimately exhibits a cold or warm property depends largely on two factors. Firstly, the growing environment plays a role, whether it is in a predominantly yin, cold, and damp location or a warm and sunny one. Just like grapes in the north differ from those in Xinjiang, Chinese medicinal herbs such as Achyranthes bidentata, known as niuxi, have different properties in Sichuan, where it promotes blood circulation, compared to Huai niuxi in Henan, which tonifies the liver and kidneys. Another example is ginseng, with ginseng from the northeast having a warm nature, while Western ginseng tends to be cooler. These differences are primarily attributed to variations in the places of origin, which encompass factors such as temperature, sunlight, soil, and cultivation methods.

Secondly, the processing method of tea plays an equally important role. Most teas undergo a process called "kill-green," which involves using heat for fixation. Traditional Chinese medicine recognizes that the heating process can alter the cooling or warming properties of medicinal herbs. For instance, raw licorice has a cool and clearing nature, while roasted licorice has a spleen-tonifying and qi-supplementing effect. Raw Rehmannia has a cool nature that cools the blood and promotes blood circulation, while steamed Rehmannia has a slightly warm nature and tonifies the kidneys. Most herbs that undergo heating processes tend to acquire some warm properties, although the specific methods of heating, including the use of firewood or an oven, can also make a difference.

Tea processing involves various steps, many of which involve heat treatment, such as roasting or steaming. These processing techniques determine the coolness or warmth of the tea. I used to believe that fermented teas like black tea or Pu'er tea were not cooling because I didn't understand the fermentation process. Fermentation in tea production often involves spreading the tea leaves and allowing them to ferment at around 25 degrees Celsius, which is different from the heating process. Therefore, in conclusion, the coolness or warmth of tea depends on the environment and processing techniques.

From this perspective, individuals with a cold constitution can still drink green tea, while some fermented teas, such as Pu'er tea, may not be suitable. It is important to find the tea that suits oneself and understand the principle of moderation in order to find the path to health preservation. (Dr. Zhang Dong, Chief Physician of the Cardiovascular Department at Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences)

Article Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition via People's Daily Online

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deadsetobsessions · 4 months

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“I ate paint once,” Danny nonchalantly threw out in the middle of game night.

The entire table stopped. Heads whipped towards Danny.

“Yeah, me too. Cardamom yellow was my favorite. Ugly as hell but the chemicals just tasted right.” Tim replied, using the distraction to nab some of Bruce’s money. Monopoly money, that is. Everyone’s heads snapped towards Tim, only Cass and Danny (who was part of the scheme) caught him cheating.

“Really? I think mine was those spray can blue cosmos paint. But that might have been more my thing for space than the actual taste.”

“WHY WERE YOU EATING PAINT?!” Dick asked, looking like he wanted to lunge over the table and shake Danny until he puked out paint. Bruce looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

“Yeah, what the fuck, Tim?” Jason snickered.

“In my defense,” Danny grinned. “I was left unsupervised. Also, Steph, you owe me $24 in rent.”

“Ugh! I’m almost out of money! Can’t you loan me some, Alfred?”

“I am sorry, Miss Stephanie, you are not qualified for another loan. In fact, one of your properties is about to be confiscated as per the collateral agreement.”

“Noooo!” Stephanie made dramatic dying noises.

“What was your excuse, Timothy?” Damian asked, eyes glued to the board and determined to win the game.

“Hey, I was probably less supervised than Danny was.”

“Yeah,” Danny perked up. “My parents brought us down to their lab all of the time. Taught us a lot of stuff.”

“Really? Like what?” Duke asked, casually slapping away Tim’s sneaky hands.

“Oh, like what a rocket launcher sounded like up close! And how to build a laser gun! Oh! And what human organs looked like when they’re fresh!” Danny chirped, collecting his money from a stunned Stephanie’s hands. He looked up.

“Oh, don’t worry! I at least learned what not to do when it comes to lab safety. And we wore hazmat suits to protect ourselves from the radiation.” Danny smiled in a ditzy fashion as the table fell silent in a horrified manner. Cass tapped his arm amusedly, but allowed his bullshit to stand. After all, it’s not like he lied.

“Radiation?” Duck’s voice raised a couple of octaves. Oh yeah, Danny’s going to laugh about that pitch for a long while.

“Organs?!” Jason’s hands closed around the plastic house he was holding rather forcefully.

“Do you even know what basic lab safety practices are, Danny?” Damian demanded, finally looking up with brows furrowed. He rolled the dice and grabbed a mystery card. He gets $100 from Alfred.

“How old were you??” Duke asked.

“Like… 8, when they first brought me in?”

“Eight.” Bruce rumbled, slipping into a more Batman like persona. When Danny sent him a confused look, Bruce straightened back into his Bruce persona. “Wow, they must have trusted you a lot!”

“Sure?”

“What were their names again?” Stephanie asked sweetly, Cass nodding at him.

“Jack and Maddie Fenton.” Not that they’ll find them here, considering his parents are dead and in another universe.

“Cool, cool, cool!” Stephanie blinked, beaming as her hands formed lethal fists underneath the table.

Danny blinked and tilted his head in an unassuming way, pretending like he had no idea what Stephanie was thinking of. He sneakily handed over $600 to Cass in order to complete his monopoly on his side of the board.

Danny stood up and spread his hands out, one hand clutching his new found victory.

"Well, lady and gents, you've all been floundering against the inevitable tide of capitalism. I am here, as a reminder that you can never win against the hopelessness that will be your financial ruin! I, Danny Fenton, have obtained a quarter of the board and therefore have won against even your best efforts!" He cackled, holding up his fan of properties triumphantly. He shot a mischievous grin at Cass, who held up a solemn thumbs up in support for his monetary takeover.

"... Danny, are you... planning on a career in villainy?" Bruce asked, after a brief and total wave of shocked silence. Damian looked like he was having a conniption at having been bested, unknowingly. Yeah, Danny was disarming like that.

"Yeah, that was concerning." Tim piped up, nabbing a ten from a shell-shocked Damian.

"Hey! The Riddler gives surprisingly good monologues! And he's really loud, so it's hard not to pick up on things. Duke, your turn." Danny sat back down, pouting. The villainy comment was a little too close to his fears.

"Damn it." Duke, who had rolled, landed smack middle of Danny's territory. He handed over a sheaf of bills to a grinning Danny.

"Wait a minute! You have cheated!" Damian bolted upwards from his seat, finally done running through the purchases he remembered Danny making. "You acquired that property not within the games' rules!"

"Okay, first of all, the rule book is a suggestion, like lab safety rules," Danny saw the others open their mouths to protest, but he quickly shut it down. "Second, there's totally no rules about selling and buying places from a private owner so suck on it. And thirdly? Cass sold it to me, so you all can take it up with her."

"Diabolical!" Damian muttered indignantly.

"... Dammit." Dick sighed, falling back into the chair and balancing on its two legs. He couldn't say anything, considering his current of bankruptcy.

"Danny. Danny, I'll buy a property from you." Jason said, eyeing one of Danny's other properties near his own cluster.

"What do you have that would interest me?" Danny asked, falling back into his Vlad-like imitation.

"Ew, don't do that," Steph reached over to jab him in the arm.

"Yeah, Jason, what do you have?" Duke said, the lovely subtle instigator that he is.

"Red Hood's signature."

The others blue-screen, gaping at the actual audacity Jason had to offer up something that would take him no effort. Danny, prepared with a poker face that came with lying straight to Jazz's ever perceptive eyes about whether he nabbed the last of her ice cream or not, was prepared.

"Red Hood? The condom guy working out of the... um. Upper East Side?" Danny asked, pretending to hesitate. He knows where Jason operated. That doesn't mean he couldn't simply pretend otherwise. For science, of course.

...

The table howled with laughter, Jason's indignant spluttering unable to say anything against Danny's wide eyed look of innocence. Cass leaned against the table, chuckles falling out of her mouth and eyes crinkled in mirth. Dick had fallen out of his chair, helplessly wheezing on the floor. Duke is hiding his face in his hands, mirroring Bruce's pose as they both shake from silent laughter. Damian is smirking, wicked and sharp as he smugly stared at Jason. Stephanie and Tim are leaning against each other, repeating "the CONDOM GUY" in alternating and increasingly louder voices. Alfred had a smile on his face and a tight grip on the bills in front of him that betrayed his amusement.

"He's a crime lord!" Jason exclaimed, indignant.

"Uh, okay. Well, I mean, why would I want a crime lord's signature? I don't want to be on his radar. Or echolocation or whatever. He's... a Bat, right? That's what you guys call that group, yeah?"

"How do you know the Rogues better than the vigilantes?!" Jason glared at his unhelpful family. Those assholes better prepare for a load of rubber bullets the next time they're on patrol near Crime Alley.

"Hey, it's not my fault the vigilantes here are unsociable. Maybe if they monologued more, I'd know who they are."

"Wouldn't- wouldn't that make them more villain like?" Tim asked, stuttering from his laughter.

"I dunno?" Danny replied, enjoying his the family's unabashed joy. "I mean, they're pretty legit and they help people already so I guess they don't need to be sociable... but still I swear I haven't heard anything about Batman other than that he grunts and is mean towards criminals."

Is mean towards criminals, Duke mouthed at a recovering Dick who was in the process of heaving himself back up. It sent him careening back down to the floor with restrained giggles. Cass tapped Danny, reminding him to eat some food.

"Tt. Of course not. They're efficient at their jobs and have no need to be seen as welcoming to criminals." Damian puffed up.

"Yeah, but they've gotta feel safe, right?" Danny shrugged as he plucked a cookie from the cookie platter. "The... one with the sword, what was it?"

"Robin." Damian supplied, eyes narrowed and trained on him.

"Yeah, the baby bird. The kids think his swords are cool so they trust him. But like, the others? The flippy blue one? Not so much."

"Wait," Dick said from the floor. "They don't trust Nightwing?"

"Nah, they trust him to protect them, but he has a history of bringing the kids to the police, you know?"

"What's wrong with that?"

Danny shrugged. "ACAB. But also because everybody knows that half the guys in the GCPD and CPS are child traffickers."

"Wait, what?" Jason and Tim straightened.

Bruce piped in, the emotional whiplash of amusement to concern to amusement to concern visibly making itself known on the man's baffled face. "I thought Batman and Commissioner Gordon took care of that?"

"Sure, the obvious ones." Danny hesitated. Well, he's pretty sure they think he's a meta so... "There's... a meta trafficking ring that they're a part of. That's. That's kind of what I was running from."

Danny looked up pleadingly. Cass placed a hand on his arm in comfort, not knowing that he was fibbing about running from them.

Danny was on the streets helping his own Alley metas to run from them.

Danny is as feral as she was, and that meant he could hide just as much as she could read off of him. Cass was the best and he felt kind of bad about lying to her, successfully or not.

"Uh. Some people said you know Batman, Bruce. I know- uh, that might not be the case but if you do, could you ask him to look into it?" Danny made his eyes tear up. "And maybe he wouldn't care about me much, I mean, I know he doesn't really like metas but if he helps out, I could totally like, leave the city once the kids are safe, promise."

Ooh, Danny put a little too much sincerity into that. He could practically hear the hearts breaking in the game room as everyone glared at Bruce.

"You won't have to leave."

"... Promise?" And Danny's voice was a little too desperate, too hopeful, because Bruce's eyes tugged down in sadness.

"Promise." He rumbled, all Bruce Wayne and all Batman. Danny's core warmed. Danny also saw the rest of the family's faces darken in pure agreement. And partial wrath.

"Yeah! We'll kick Batman's ass if he even thought about kicking you out!" Stephanie proclaimed.

"He's far more proficient in combat than you are, Brown." Damian immediately leapt to Batman's defense and that was that.

Well, later, as Danny was "sleeping" and Phantom was hovering in the cave, invisible and intangible, he got confirmation that his Alley meta kids were going to be safe, soon.

After all, the entire Batclan was suiting up and baying for blood, with Oracle's all encompassing presence behind them, fingers reaching for their enemies' weak points.

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