Sunday, September 2, 2007

9 Delicious Ways to Fight Arthritis- Way 9

Green tea.

This mild, slightly astringent tea contains hundreds of powerful antioxidant chemicals called polyphenols and has been cited for helping prevent problems ranging from cancer to heart disease. But studies also suggest green tea may help prevent or ease symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. In one study of induced arthritis in mice, green tea cut the disease onset rate almost in half, and follow-up studies by the same researchers, at Case Western Reserve University, in Ohio, show promise in humans.


Boil water briskly. Tea tastes best when water is at the boiling point, which allows tea to release its flavorful compounds quickly. Water that's cooler than that tends to release flavors more slowly, weakening the tea.


Keep steeping short. Let tea steep in hot water for about three minutes -- and no longer than five. This brief steeping time allows tea to acquire a full-bodied flavor and release its nutrients, but withholds compounds that make tea taste bitter.


Get a bag bonus. Tea purists favor the fresher flavor of loose tea, but some experts suggest that tea bags release more beneficial nutrients because smaller, ground-up particles expose more of the tea leaves' surface area to hot water.

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