Sage leaves contain volatile anhidrotic compounds that naturally reduce output from sweat glands.  Drink at least two to three glasses of sage tea daily.  You can even sweeten it with honey and serve over ice.  Please note that the sage tea has drying effects that can disrupt breast milk production, so don’t take it if you’re pregnant or nursing.

A study involving more than a thousand Japanese people age 70 over found that those who drank at least four cups of green tea a day enjoyed better moods than those drinking a cup or less.  The brew’s theanine is the one believed to uplift the mood.

I usually have a cup or two daily, I’ll try to increase my intake and see if it does work. 

Tummy ache?  Try peppermint tea.  Unlike any other brew, peppermint contains no caffeine.  Ever wonder why  peppermint is consumed right after meals?  It’s because the oils of peppermint help stimulate the flow of bile to the stomach and helps relieve gas pains. Not just to sweeten the breath, this tea calms the digestive system, helps relieve heartburn, soothes stomach ache and nausea.

If you want to live longer, eat grapes!  That’s from Spanish researchers who found that resveratrol, aa plant chemical can lengthen the lives of flies and yeast.  While it’s still to soon to know if it will work for humans too, it won’t hurt to start munching on red grapes now.  The juicy jewels offer a lot of other health benefits too.  Other sources of resveratrol are berries, peanuts and red wine.

Tea is a name given to a lot of brews but it’s only greesn black, white, oolong and pu-erh that purists consider the real thing.  All of these came from the same plant and contain unique antioxidants known as flavonoids.  Following are their potential health benefit.

GREEN TEA:  The tea’s antioxidants could interfere with the growth of bladder, breast, lung, stomach, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers.  It might also prevent clogging of the arteries, burn fat, counteract oxidative stress on the brain, reduce risk of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, reduce risk of stroke, and improve cholesterol levels.

BLACK TEA:  Of all the teas, this has the highest caffeine content and forms the basis for flavored teas such as chai and some instant teas.  Research shows that the brew might protect lungs from damage caused by exposure to cigarette smoke.  Like green tea, black can also reduce the risk of stroke.

WHITE TEA:  Of all these popular brews, white tea has the most potent anticancer properties compared with more processed teas such as black or oolong.

OOLONG TEA:  This has been known to lower LDL or bad cholesterol levels.

PU-ERH TEA:  A black tea, its fermented and aged levels are pressed into cakes.  In one animal study, those given pu-erh had less weight gain and reduced LDL cholesterol.

Goldenseal tea may not be easily found in local stores, look for it in specialty health food stores.  It’s a very bitter tea, so you may want to flavor it with honey.

Sip green tea with lunch and dinner.  The tea is packed with phytonutrients that will protect you against breast cancer by dampening production of estradiol, the nastiest form of estrogen.  The brew is one of nature’s richest sources of EGCG, a compound that surrounds cancerous cells and starves them by shutting off their blood supply.