Ramadan daylight fasting is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith. This June, our blog site Guest Author is Teba Abdul Lateef, a Registered Dietitian from Pakistan who is contributing to a two-part blog series on Ramadan. Teba is sharing some of her expertise as a devout Muslim when it comes to Islamic traditions. Please see Part 1 of this two-part blog series for links to Teba’s background. (Grand Mosque picture courtesy of barunpatro at rgbstock). Part 1 covers some background from Teba concerning Ramadan as well as some reported culinary trends during Ramadan for Muslims living in various parts
Category: Caffeine
Demystifying Chocolate and Cacao Part 3 of 3
In Part 1 of this blog series we provided some background on chocolate and cacao including some cultural information surrounding the growing of theobroma cacao trees around the world and processing cacao beans from grower through manufacturer. In our Part 2 of 3 blog post we discussed some of the best known varieties of cacao trees, as well as some of the flavor notes associated with beans grown in different places in the world. Choco pieces courtesy of lusi via rgbstock.com. In this blog post, we’ll provide some infotainment regarding perceptions of “chocolate cravings” and a bit about flavor sprays,
Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 3 of 3
Why not grab a cup of fragrant not-too-hot tea and we’ll wrap up this blog series on Christmas tea and how it can contribute to helping you and yours to stay healthier during the holidays. We’ve already mentioned in Part 1 of this series how tea can contribute valuable flavonoids to your diet, and then in Part 2 of this series shared some thoughts concerning brewing tea and its caffeine content as well. Now we’d like to share some other potential health benefits of drinking a not-too-hot cup of freshly steeped tea and mention just some of the supermarket accessible brands of
Read MoreHealthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 3 of 3
Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 2 of 3
It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and inadvertently forget about setting aside time to help keep yourself healthier during the holidays. Sometimes you need to just stop, catch your breath, and maybe even sit down and treat yourself to a wonderfully aromatic warm cup of tea! It’s important to keep up your antioxidant intake during the winter months and as we noted in Part 1 of 3 of this blog series, especially green and/or black tea made from the tea leaves of the Camellia senesis plant can be an excellent source of important
Read MoreHealthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 2 of 3
Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 1 of 3
Are you a tea drinker? As of the year 2010, the Tea Association of the USA estimated that there are at least 154 million people in the US who drink some form of tea. If their 2010 Tea Fact Sheet still holds true, then in effect before the year ends approximately 1 out of every 2 persons in the US will have consumed some form of tea this year. (Image of Christmas Tree + ornaments courtesy of dyet at rgbstock.com) In Part 1 of this 3 part series we’ll review a little background on tea and tea events, and mention
Read MoreHealthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 1 of 3