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Celebri-tea: Billy Corgan and tea

Billy Corgan, frontman from the 90's band Smashing Pumpkins, is planning on opening a tea house in his neighbourhood in Chicago. According to NBC Chicago, via Tea News Direct, Billy says the drive for this project is that there is a  "lack of culture for someone in their 30's or 40's". His tea house is scheduled to open in March or April and it is to be the anti-Starbucks. Billy is dead set against what he calls the cookie-cutter approach. "I don't want to hang out with those people," says Corgan, who will not be running the day to day operations.

 

Celebri-tea! Adam Clayton

 I was given this book for Christmas by someone who knows I like U2 a little bit. Well, a lot!

It's one of those books that you can pick up and set down as time allows. About 1/2 way through the book, there is a short chapter subtitled Ten Totally Random U2 facts. U2 bassist, Adam Clayton, is a tea drinker.

Fact 10: "Adam Clayton won't go on tour without his favourite brand of Irish tea bags. Barry's decaffeinated tea bags," Adam announced during the band's 2009 tour. I know it sounds crazy, but if you don't travel with your own tea, it never tastes the same."

Although I prefer Steeped Fine Loose tea to tea bags, I do agree with the sentiment! Do you take Steeped loose tea with you when you have to hit the road?

 

Study Shows Green Tea Protects Against Prostate Cancer

This article recently appeared in the Tea News Direct and is written by Robin Williams Adams of The Ledger.

The Power of Green Tea

Watson Clinic Trial is Studying Impact of Green Tea Leaf Extract.

Green tea has a soothing, comforting connotation, and its concentrated power may be able to put pre-cancerous prostate cells in their place.

A drug called polyphenon E, a concentrated extract from green tea leaves, has shown promise in lab and animal studies at controlling pre-cancerous prostate conditions that could develop into prostate cancer.

 “The green-tea polyphenon stops the cells from multiplying in a crazy, rowdy manner,” said Nagi Kumar, director of cancer chemoprevention at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. “It helps the cells behave like they’re supposed to behave.”

A clinical trial sponsored by Moffitt, in which Lakeland’s Watson Clinic is participating, now is measuring polyphenon’s effect on men.

The men being enrolled are those identified through biopsies as having abnormal, excessive growth of prostate cells, called high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP).

They aren’t eligible if they have prostate cancer, prostatitis or urinary tract infections.

“This is a way for us to be on the front end of things,” said Noreen McGowan, a registered nurse who heads the clinical trials program at Watson Clinic Center for Research.

People are positive about this study and others that focus on prevention, said Susan Collins, a registered nurse supervising the polyphenon E trial there.

Patients with HGPIN usually have symptoms and go to their urologists, said Kumar, who is also a professor of oncologic sciences at the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

A biopsy discloses cells that can be precursors of prostate cancers.

She said 27 percent to 35 percent of men will develop prostate cancer within a year or two if they are at the HGPIN stage.

The other condition, ASAP for short, sometimes gets called stage zero because it’s almost cancer but isn’t quite there yet, she said.

The previous lab and animal trials had positive results in controlling development of cancer from those conditions and in controlling the progression of cancer that developed, Kumar said.

In this clinical trial, men take either the polyphenon E capsule or an inert placebo capsule twice a day. They also take vitamins, Collins said.

Neither the men nor the researchers know which patient is given the actual ingredient being tested.

After six months, participants’ prostate specific antigen level will be checked and they will get rectal exams.

If those are normal, they continue in the trial for another six months.

Previous research led by Kumar, reviewing women’s tea drinking patterns, found a 37 percent reduced breast cancer risk in women younger than 50 who drank three of more cups of green or black tea a day. That was in comparison to younger women who didn’t drink tea.

That supports a “potential beneficial influence,” but further research is needed to confirm the association, she said.

A similar link hasn’t been made with ovarian cancer, but Dr. Patricia Judson, a gynecologic oncologist at Moffitt, said lab research in petri dishes on 12 different cell lines of ovarian cancer found fermented wheat germ extract could kill ovarian cancer cells.

The ongoing study of polyphenon E and pre-cancerous prostate cells could assume more importance in view of disagreement about prostate cancer screening and treatment.

Confusion and disagreement exist with HGPIN as well, according to an article in the October 2010 issue of Renal & Urology News.

Many urologists ignore its presence completely, wrote Dr. J. Stephen Jones, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Department of Regional Urology and a professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

If HGPIN is found in multiple places within the prostate, it’s associated with cancer development in approximately half of patients within the next five years to six years, he said.

If an adequate biopsy finds HGPIN in just one place, it may be insignificant.

Just another great reason to get the men in your life drinking tea!

Humourous Tea Ad from South Africa

Do you need a little bit of humour this morning? Enjoy a giggle courtesy of this South African tea company and their ad:

 

Unofficially, Summer is Over! and Celebri-tea musings

Here in Ontario, it is feeling more like a fall day than a summer one, on this Labour Day. Labour Day - an unofficial end to summer. Tomorrow is a return to routine for many families.

So, on this fallish feeling day, what are you drinking? Still sipping iced tea? Or are you putting the kettle on today?

On another note, if he were still alive, today would be Freddy Mercury's 65th birthday, and the Google doodle is a fun tribute to the flamboyant and versatile lead singer of the legendary (well if you were alive in the 70's and 80's) band Queen. So out of curiosity, I thought I'd try to see if Freddy was a tea drinker. Certainly, it was easy to find out he enjoyed vodka. A little more searching seems to indicate that tea was an ordinary part of his life. Several accounts talk of his visits at his mom's and her preparing tea. The descriptions lead me to believe they are describing the beverage as opposed to the evening meal.

In his last weeks, tea was still part of his routine, as described by his companion Jim Hutton:

Back at Garden Lodge, Freddie set out on the last three weeks of his life. He remained in good spirits, though he took to his bed for long parts of the day. He didn't once talk about work. Some days he'd get up in the morning and come down in his dressing gown for a cup of tea before returning to his room for the rest of the day. And I'd take him a cup of tea, along with his beloved cats for company.

(Excerpted from http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/m/Freddie%20Mercury/freddie_mercury.htm)

In fact, in a song called The Miracle, one of the miracles Queen sings about is Sunday mornings with a cup of tea; this miracle is listed along with other miracles, both man made and created by God and nature, with the song culminating in a chorus describing the great miracle we all want - peace. You can read all the lyrics here. Here's the song, recorded late in Freddy's life, but still sounding good, and featuring some pretty good child look-alikes for much of the song.

 

 

 Whatever you are doing today, whether it's slipping on a fall sweater and  heading out to one of the many fall fairs, staying in and curling up with a book, cranking some tunes, we hope you have a wonderful holiday and that tea is part of your day!

Eminem Drinks Tea?

Here's the ad that was featured during SuperBowl...

 

Keeping a Stiff Upper Lip

... like the Brits do. That's what American comedian, Steven Colbert, was attempting to do when he sat down for tea:

 

Celebrities and Tea

According to the Swanky Celebs and other websites, Johnny Depp, famous for such roles as The Madhatter in Alice in Wonderland, Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribean, and many other eclectric roles, is using green tea as a way to reduce his weight for an upcoming role in the movie Dark Shadows. The 47-year-old actor is reportedly drinking gallons of green tea in a bid to lose weight for his role in the upcoming movie ‘Dark Shadows.’  “Johnny is aiming to get down to 140lbs, so he looks as gaunt as possible,” according to sources associated with the film. The diet also consists of low fructose fruit such as pineapples and strawberries.

The film, set for release in 2012, is a remake of an old 1960's TV show of the same name, and is being described as a Gothic horror about a vampire named Barnabus Collins.

Perhaps tea isn't only for dieting purposes for Johnny Depp, as it appears he might be drinking some here, with Kate Moss.

 

 

 

 

We at Steeped Tea have seen lots of articles and studies that point to tea, both green and oolong, as effective in weight, but may we recommend you do it sensibly, incorporating your tea into a healthy, well-balanced diet, and exercise?

Celebrities and Tea - part 8

OK, you have got to watch this! Can you picture the one and only Mike Tyson at a tea party. This guy is sipping tea out of a gorgeous delicate china cup! I happen to disagree with his opinion of Earl Grey tea, and if you  do too, you will be pleased to know that Steeped Fine Loose Tea offers MANY variants on this classic, popular tea. Here we go:

Celebrities and Tea - pt 7

British rock legends Led Zeppelin had a reunion concert at the O2 in London in late 2007. According to Earsucker.com, their backstage rider asked for tea, coffee – and an ironing board.  Concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith said: “They are much older now obviously and are very low maintenance." The concert must have gone well, because in June 2008, the band was awarded with  Best Live Act of the last twelve months at the Mojo 'Honours List' ceremony in London.

The band was inspired to write a song about tea called "Tea for One" which appeared on their 1976 album (yes, album) Presence, and was prompted by the homesickness they'd feel when on tour. It has a blues influence and was never performed live in its entirety by the band, though if you scout around Youtube you can find versions of it performed by Page and Plant when they toured Japan about 5-6 years ago.

How come twenty four hours, Baby sometimes seem to slip into days?
Oh twenty-four hours, Baby sometimes seem to slip into days
A minute seems like a lifetime, Oh baby when I feel this way
Sittin, lookin at the clock, time moves so slow
I've been watchin for the hands to move
Until I just can't look no more
How come twenty four hours, Baby sometimes seems to slip into days?
A minute seems like a lifetime, Baby when I feel this way.

To sing a song for you, I recall you used to say
"Oh baby this one's for we two", Which in the end is you anyway

How come twenty four hours, Baby sometimes slip into days?
A minute seems like a lifetime, baby when I feel this way.

There was a time that I stood tall, In the eyes of other men
But by my own choice I left you woman, And now I can't get back again

How come twenty-four hours, sometimes slip into days?
A minute seems like a lifetime, Baby when I feel this way
A minute seems like a lifetime ... Oh Baby
When I feel this way...I feel this way

Here's a tiny peek at the teadrinkin' lads who prove that you are never too old to rock n roll: