Author Caroline Dow has a book out about Tea. Here is an excerpt from her blog post about Brassica Tea. Click here to read the entire blog post.
Brassica: The Planet’s Healthiest Tea
When researching my new book, THE HEALING POWER OF TEA, I was surprised to find that not many people have heard of Brassica Tea and its health benefits. I wonder whether this is so because I live in Colorado and my state was chosen as the first test market for this tea.
Another possibility is that Brassica contains a component found in broccoli. Yes, that much maligned cruciferous vegetable, with what former President George W. Bush described as “a strong flavor.”Brassica oleracea italica is the Latin name for broccoli, but very little of the flavor, if any, makes it into Brassica tea.
More than a decade ago, scientists from JohnsHopkinsUniversity isolated the antioxidant in broccoli that battles free radicals and keeps them from destroying cells in the body, which can open the door to cancer and other chronic conditions. They called their find sulforaphane or SGS for short. Researchers were able to extract SGS from broccoli and add it to tea. Although any kind of tea can be infused with SGS, it seems to harmonize best with the vegetal flavors of various green teas.
Just one cup of Brassica tea will deliver to your body the equivalent of three ounces of fresh broccoli. You bypass the distinctive broccoli taste and get an added nutritional boost courtesy of green tea’s catechins. This is why some enthusiasts believe that Brassica tea may be the healthiest tea on the planet.