Iced tea in the United States has a long and storied history
National Iced Tea Day is coming up on June 10th. It is a popular favorite in the Southern states, where summer starts a lot earlier than the global summer solstice date of June 20th. For about 8 months of the year, the American South deals with sweltering, humid temperatures, and in the past, there was little relief for the summer climate, including cool drinks.
Although hot tea has been critical to cultures worldwide for thousands of years, iced tea in the United States was not popularized until Richard Blechynden introduced it at the St. Louis World’s Fair in the summer of 1904. Like many things that happened at the World’s fair, iced tea took off as a trend and never really went away.
Besides being endlessly customizable, flavorful, and refreshing, iced tea (and hot tea, for that matter) has several health benefits that make it an excellent option for cooling off and staying hydrated. Unfortunately, as is the case with many famous food and drinks, most of the nutritional value of iced teas goes out the window when you buy mass-produced iced tea. This over-processed concoction might taste nice, but it is usually not healthy. Homemade sweet tea recipes, on the other hand, contain some of the natural benefits of tea leaves them. However, most homemade teas include more sugar than is healthy for a typical person to consume regularly.
Herbalife Nutrition, an award winning nutrition brand offers a lineup of tea products breaks the mold when it comes to providing refreshments. With both chillable and hot options, the reviews of Herbalife’s tea lineup show you can have your tea and drink it, too.
Why Drink Tea?
Most of us are aware that hydration is essential. It helps supply the body with nutrients and flush waste from it and is vital to mental health, exercise, and more. While some of your hydration must come from plain water, it is also acceptable for some of it to come from clear liquids. Tea is especially beneficial because of all its health benefits.
Green tea and black tea are the two most popular teas on the market. These have been studied thoroughly throughout the years to examine their health benefits. Among their properties are a high number of flavonoids and other antioxidants. Flavonoids—the big antioxidant found in teas– are a specific antioxidant compound found in fruits, vegetables, and other consumable plants. Among their various benefits, flavonoids have been shown to help with heart health, brain health and prevent general information throughout a person’s body.
Green tea and black tea also have specific components that make them beneficial on their own. Green tea is packed full of polyphenols, a compound found in plants that provide antioxidative properties. Polyphenols target metabolic rates, which may be beneficial for weight maintenance and helping your body convert food into energy. They may also further help brain function and heart health. Black tea, on the other hand, has Theaflavins. Theaflavins are a specific type of polyphenol. In clinical studies, theaflavins have been shown to reduce cholesterol and help lower blood glucose potentially.
Herbal teas have also become popular over the past several decades as people seek to reap tea benefits. Herbal teas are especially beneficial in the later hours of the day when people avoid caffeine for a good night’s sleep. It has been shown that herbal teas have many of the same antioxidant benefits as caffeinated green and black teas, as the berries, fruits, and herbs themselves contain antioxidant properties. Additionally, specific blends (like lavender and chamomile, for instance) aid in relaxation and sleep—which helps with general wellness.
Herbalife Nutrition’s Tea Lineup
The trouble with tea in its natural form? It takes time to make. It is much more convenient to grab a bottle of something pre-made. Unfortunately, pre-made teas are usually highly processed, and most of the natural antioxidants are gone. Herbalife Nutrition found a workaround to this issue with its powdered tea lineup.
Here are the tea flavors offered through Herbalife Nutrition.
Herbalife Herbal Tea Concentrate
Herbalife Nutrition’s Herbal Tea Concentrate is an herbal blend of teas combined with 85 mg of caffeine designed to get you through the day. This mix contains green tea, black tea, orange pekoe extract, hibiscus flower powder, Malva Sylvestris, and cardamom seed extracts. Typically, these teas would have domineering flavors of their own. However, the Herbalife herbal tea concentrate has a variety of flavors, including:
- Original
- Lemon
- Raspberry
- Peach
- Cinnamon
- Chai
Green Tea
Herbalife made sure to include the ever-popular green tea in its lineup of powdered tea mixes. Making sure to retain the health benefits of unprocessed green tea, this green tea concentrate contains high antioxidant levels, fending off free radicals which can cause inflammation and sickness in the body.
Their green tea has less caffeine than the herbal blend, at 25 mg, and contains zero calories, sugar, artificial sweeteners, colors, or flavors. Flavored naturally with pomegranate and stevia leaf, the green tea mix is perfect hot or iced.
Relaxation Tea
For something with a little less caffeine, Herbalife Nutrition’s Relaxation tea hits the spot. This is a prevalent tea among traditional tea lovers, as it takes on its original tea flavors. The blend is made with lemon balm, passionflower, chamomile, and lavender. Like other teas offered through Herbalife Nutrition, their Relaxation Tea is made without genetically modified ingredients. Additionally, it is Kosher, gluten-free, and caffeine-free.
Herbal Teas, like Herbalife Nutrition’s Relaxation Tea, promote better rest habits among those who drink them. Better sleep and rest reduce stress and anxiety, which may help prevent several ailments.
Nature’s Raw Guarana
Many Americans who grew up in the nineties remember iterations of mainstream “health juices” supposedly packed with guarana. Guarana is a natural stimulant, used for centuries in South America in a similar manner to coffee. When combined with a lower dose of caffeine in tea, this tart, and delicious tea blend keeps you alert and awake when you need it without many of the harmful side effects of prepackaged coffee and energy drinks.
Although Herbalife Nutrition’s tea mixes do not come in a traditional form (Loose leaf or in a tea bag), they provide the same health benefits that traditional tea does. That is in part due to the company’s unique and natural tea processing process.
What Makes Herbalife Nutrition Teas Different?
Herbalife Nutrition’s tea lineup is in a league of its own in several respects. It is not brewed from loose-leaf tea. However, it is also not packed full of synthetic flavors and masquerading as tea, like many powdered store-bought counterparts. It is pure tea, made with natural ingredients, dehydrated, and processed into powder form. However, that is not the only reason why it stands apart from its competitors.
Here are some of the many ways in which Herbalife Nutrition’s tea lineup is different.
Sourcing: Herbalife Nutrition sources its green and black tea leaves from the Fujian Province in China. Not only has the area been known for its tea for centuries, but Herbalife Nutrition works with some of the oldest tea producers in the area. These producers have lasted for generations because of the care they put into their products. The company does not take shortcuts when it comes to what they put in their base products.
Processing: After being grown by our trusted farming partners, tea is brought to the processing plant in the Herbalife Innovation & Manufacturing (HIM) facility in Changsha, China. After quality testing and approval, it is processed into the natural and convenient tea concentrate powders sold by Herbalife Nutrition. Unlike many other concentrates sold by significant tea companies, this tea powder is all-natural. It is the natural product of dried, concentrated tea without unnatural additives, sugars, or coloring.
Low Sugar. A high number of powdered tea mixes on the market are packed to the brim with sugar, making them a poor hydration choice for people hoping to watch their sugar intake. Sugar in moderation isn’t bad, but when consumed as a regular part of hydration, it can lead to excess weight and even serious health problems. Herbalife Nutrition’s teas leave the added sugar out. The sweetness that a few of their tea mixes have comes from the naturally sweet and sugar-free stevia leaf.
Better Quality. Herbalife Nutrition takes its quality so seriously that it tests its ingredients down to the DNA level. Each batch of their products goes through a botanical DNA identification process to validate the authenticity of each botanical ingredient. This tests for the origin and quality of each ingredient. If they do not meet rigorous standards, they are not included in the batch.
Better Consistency. Most people can think of a product they’ve grown to love. Most people also discover that overtime when they grow accustomed to a product, it eventually changes in consistency or quality. This happens to products when a company does not keep good tabs on its consistency. Herbalife’s botanical DNA identification ensures this does not happen so that customers can expect the same taste and quality between batches.
Convenience. Convenience is a major selling point when it comes to food products. Unfortunately, convenience has also led to staggering health issues among the American population. It is the basis upon which fast food was created. What Herbalife Nutrition does differently with its healthy beverage products is it makes health convenient. These tea mixes allow consumers to hydrate conveniently, healthily, and without sacrificing flavor.
With summer just around the corner, there will be even greater pressure to hydrate than there has been. Especially now that people are spending more time outside of their house than they have in a year, more and more people will turn to quick and convenient solutions to quench their thirst. Herbalife Nutrition’s tea lineup is a convenient and flavorful way to beat the summer heat and stave off dehydration without having to turn to hyper-processed junk drinks.
Nothing beats plain old water in terms of hydration, but if you have to choose between a sugary iced tea mix and a Herbalife Nutrition tea concentrate, the answer is clear. Flavored, sugar-free teas can hydrate and provide health benefits at the same time. So, raise a glass to your health this June 10th, and be sure it is filled with your favorite cold and healthy tea.
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