Dr. Tea's Diet... Week #1

As soon as I started reading Dr. Tea's book, The Ultimate Tea Diet, I became newly inspired. I had been working on dieting the standard way by decreasing my portions and increasing exercise and have been moderately successful. My goals were not to lose weight dramatically - particularly considering it is the holiday period - but rather to approach food as nutrition. Novel thought, isn't it? You know, as in eat to live rather than live to eat.

Like all changes in behavior I was finding myself a bit disoriented, as nobody likes to give up something that has provided so much pleasure in the past. Breaking the gravy habit was accomplished this year when it was absent from 364 of the 365 meals. (Thanksgiving turkey must have gravy. I am not a culinary fiend!)

My food plan consists of eating only foods that pack high nutrition and whenever practical, do not contain chemicals or preservatives. The concept is that if my body is getting the nutrients and minerals it needs, I should feel less hunger.

Well, all theories are great, but the reality is I had still been feeling like I am starving and somewhat deprived. Granted, I am an emotional person and when I am not sedating myself with something I tend to feel things from my toes to the hair shafts in my scalp. Don't cry for me, Argentina, as I live a very rich life because of it, I just also suffer a lot in the high intensity process.:)

Okay, so back to the tea diet. My toes are in the water this week, and maybe part of my foot, but I haven't gone nut-so just yet. We had family and other guests here until Wednesday, so I was reluctant to implement the part about actually cooking with tea for the health benefits.  I think we can all agree it is rude to experiment with one's guests. I should mention that was purely politeness, as I am totally sold.  I was already following a small amount of the amazing research Dr. Tea explains and summarizes so well in his book.

What have been the results so far? Well, I decided not to weigh myself (can't face that just yet), as, again, I want to concentrate on changing lifestyle not merely vanity. I have noticed, however, that just from drinking lots of tea I am much, much calmer than I usually am at this time of year. I should confess that when I am 'dieting' - even if I don't act on it - I lose a bit of that sweet personality my family depends on around here. I'm not really grouchy but I do become... tense. As that is not quite as endearing as self-sacrifice, genuine warmth and affection, you can imagine that I get a little negativity pitched back at me.

Medications for certain disorders such as depression, anxiety, etc., are great for anyone who needs them and a wonderful part of 21st century medicine. However, I think it would be an abuse and unhealthy to use these to elevate mood for those of us who are 'merely' dieting. Imagine my shock when I learned that drinking tea is a time-honored method of performing this function and actually raises the dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain. That is the part that I am enjoying this weekend.

Some might claim it is the placebo effect, but who cares why?  As I know the brain reacts slowly to increases in these levels, I would imagine within three or four weeks, I should be positively 'mellow'.

For any of you who read my other posts, I was feeling terribly emotional a few days ago when my son flew back to San Francisco. Of course, he is now a grown man, but recognizing that has been recent for me. (Mothers are always the last to know.)  Anyway, the permanance of his living arrangement got to me for some reason, and I drowned my sorrows in pots and pots of tea. There was a symbolic element to this tea drinking (oh, Melodrama, my middle name!), as he gave me the new teapot pictured here that matches my china perfectly. What better tribute to him than to drink cup after cup of tea from this particular teapot? Sniff... sniff... sniff.

Okay, so for those of you who care or even have a scientific interest, I'll let you know that I really do feel better. And today the sun actually came out after a week of rain, snow, sleet and tiny hail pellets just this morning, which didn't hurt.  Surprisingly, my mood has been good for the last two days anyway.

Now that the food in the refrigerator is dwindling somewhat, I am going to make a dish tonight that should be delicious. My husband is the guinea pig.  Here's my untested recipe and how I am going to jazz up its nutritional value with some tea:

Chicken Sausages & Tea Stir-Fry

4 fully cooked, smoked chicken & apple sausages

[Aidell's brand is made without hormones, gluten or msg, although it does have have sodium nitrate as a preservative.]

1 red pepper and 1 green pepper, sliced into thin strips

1 large sweet or yellow onion, sliced into thin strips

10 whole cloves of roasted garlic (or 2 tablespoons of minced, roasted garlic)

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (or more to taste)

2 tablespoons of premium orange spice Ceylon tea (or other tea)

2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Cut the sausages into 1/2" rounds and set aside. In a wok or large frying pan, stir-fry the onions in the olive oil until they turn yellow.  Don't burn them or they will taste bitter.  Add the peppers and stir fry until they are beginning to loose some of their crunch. Add the garlic, pepper, sausage rounds and tea and cook another eight minutes, or until the food seems hot and nicely blended and the texture of the peppers is to your taste. Garnish each serving with several shakes of Parmesan cheese.

Each 85 gram link of the Aidells' sausage has 160 calories with 100 of those from fat. To give you a comparison, two tablespoons of blue cheese salad dressing has the same calories with 150 of those calories from fat.  For those of you who use grams to measure, each link's total fat is 11 grams with saturated fat comprising 3.5 grams of that.  There is no trans fat, the most dangerous kind for good health.

Each link breaks down to: Cholesterol 95 mg, Sodium 670 mg, Carbohydrates 3 g, Sugar 2 g, and 13 g of protein.

If you like sweet Italian sausages, by the way, you can add a 1/2 teaspoon of fennel to this recipe for their unique flavor. If you go for the hot taste, also add more ground pepper for additional zing. However, I personally think pepper is better shaken on at the table once the dish has been prepared in a standard way. Too much will ruin a dish for those fussy 'super-tasters' out there. By the way, this serves four dieters or two normal diners generously.:)

So we will see what next week brings. If the sun ever comes out and we can grill, I might try Dr. Tea's steak recipe, which is quoted in my book review of The Ultimate Tea Diet.

Until then, Salud! [Health!]