There are lots of reasons why I enjoy a hot cup of tea: I love the aroma of various flavors of tea; holding onto a hot tea mug warms my hands on a cold winter morning; sipping tea in front of the fireplace is a great way to relax. And those are just the feel-good reasons. If you're not drinking tea yet, read up on these 10 ways tea does your body good and then see if you're ready to change your Starbucks order! 

1. Tea contains antioxidants. Like the Rust-Oleum paint that keeps your outdoor furniture from rusting, tea's antioxidants protect your body from the ravages of aging and the effects of pollution. 

2. Tea has less caffeine than coffee. Coffee usually has two to three times the caffeine of tea.  If drinking coffee gives you the jitters, causes indigestion or headaches or interferes with sleep -- switch to tea. 

3. Tea may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. Unwanted blood clots formed from cholesterol and blood platelets cause heart attack and stroke. Drinking tea may help keep your arteries smooth and clog-free, the same way a drain keeps your bathroom pipes clear.

4. Tea protects your bones. It's not just the milk added to tea that builds strong bones. One study that compared tea drinkers with non-drinkers, found that people who drank tea for 10 or more years had the strongest bones, even after adjusting for age, body weight, exercise, smoking and other risk factors.

5. Tea gives you a sweet smile. One look at the grimy grin of Austin Powers and you may not think drinking tea is good for your teeth, but think again. It's the sugar added to it that's likely to blame for bad dental records. Tea itself actually contains fluoride and tannins that may keep plaque at bay. So add unsweetened tea drinking to your daily dental routine of brushing and flossing for healthier teeth and gums. 

6. Tea bolsters your immune defenses. Drinking tea may help your body's immune system fight off infection. When 21 volunteers drank either five cups of tea or coffee each day for four weeks, researchers saw higher immune system activity in the blood of the tea drinkers. 

7. Tea protects against cancer. Thank the polyphenols, the antioxidants found in tea, once again for their cancer-fighting effects. While the overall research is inconclusive, there are enough studies that show the potential protective effects of drinking tea to make adding tea to your list of daily beverages. 

8. Tea helps keep you hydrated. Caffeinated beverages, including tea, used to be on the list of beverages that didn't contribute to our daily fluid needs. Since caffeine is a diuretic and makes us pee more, the thought was that caffeinated beverages couldn't contribute to our overall fluid requirement. However, recent research has shown that the caffeine really doesn't matter -- tea and other caffeinated beverages definitely contribute to our fluid needs. 

9. Tea is calorie-free. Tea doesn't have any calories, unless you add sweetener or milk. Consuming even 250 fewer calories per day can result in losing one pound per week. If you're looking for a satisfying, calorie-free beverage, tea is a top choice. 

10. Tea increases your metabolism. Lots of people complain about a slow metabolic rate and their inability to lose weight. Green tea has been shown to actually increase metabolic rate so that you can burn 70 to 80 additional calories by drinking just five cups of green tea per day. Over a year's time you could lose eight pounds just by drinking green tea. Of course, taking a 15-minute walk every day will also burn calories. 

By: 
Lynn Grieger 

Tea leaves are amazing and far too precious to end up in the nearest landfill. We’ll share with you a few uses for infused tea leaves and hopefully inspire you to try some of them.

1. Use as incense: Use either a Japanese tea-leaf-burner (cha kouro) or an old skillet on the stove with low heat to roast the used leaves and get them smoking slightly. Not only does this smoke have a nice aroma, it is also very effective in absorbing and eliminating bad odours in your house.
2. Soothe sunburned skin: Wrap used, damp tea leaves in a cloth and press or gently rub on sunburned skin. The tannic acid in tea has a cooling effect and helps repair the skin.
3. Clean windows and mirrors: Wrap used, damp tealeaves in a cloth and wipe glass surfaces clean; use this instead of chemical glass cleaner. Buff the glass after the treatment with a soft cloth to remove the thin film of tea.This works like a spell, try it out!
4. Prevent rust in cast-iron kitchenware: Rub your cast-iron pans, pots or teapots (tetsubin) with used tea leaves. The antioxidants in tea react with iron and form a protective film that prevents the formation of rust.
5. Deodorize your refrigerator: Tea leaves are extremely efficient in absorbing odours (that’s why you should keep high quality tea in an air-tight container). Put used tea leaves in a bag and place it in your refrigerator to get rid of bad odours. (NOTE: You can use this method also to deodorize smelly shoes!)
6. Improve your compost: Used tea leaves are a great addition to any compost. They create a very rich soil and help to improve the smell of partially working compost piles.
7. Deodorize your cutting boardsand kitchen utensils: Rub used tea leaves on cutting boards and knives after using them for onions or other strongly smelling foods. The tea leaves deodorize them and help to sterilize them through the antibacterial properties of camellia sinensis.
8. Enjoy a relaxing tea bath: stuff a small gauze bag with used tea leaves and put into the bathtub. The tea helps to sterilize your skin and acts as a tonic. You could also create an exotic bubble bath by adding some nice soap and baking soda to your bath and let the leaves float freely
9. Use as fertilizer: Tea leaves are full of minerals and brewing extracts only a small percentage of these rich resources. Place used tea leaves around acid-loving plants (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, etc. love it, so do rhododendrons, azaleas and many more) or dig into the soil around the roots.

Note that many of the uses mentioned above are based on traditional practices from Japan (a country which even invented an incense burner for tea leaves!), but the methods can be adapted for all kinds of tea: white, green, oolong, black and pu-erh tea! You can even use teabags, just remember to remove the staple before putting them into your compost!

Do you have any uses or ideas that we haven’t mentioned? We would love to hear about them, so please leave a comment.

* Source: Ya Ya's Tea Board