Add tea to your Thanksgiving: Green tea prevents flu in children

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm posting this first thing in the morning so that you can make a slight modification to your Thanksgiving menu. Consider adding green tea alongside your eggnog. If you don't like drinking green tea, there are plenty of recipes, like Green Tea Lime Pie or Green Tea Cake. It might seem a bit much to make a new recipe this late in your feast preparations, but think of all the available family sous chefs you could put to work.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, green tea can help fight the flu. I just came across information on another study: Green Tea Consumption Is Inversely Associated with the Incidence of Influenza Infection among Schoolchildren in a Tea Plantation Area of Japan. How's that for a catchy title?

This study explored whether school-age children (6-13 years old) who regularly drank green tea would have fewer cases of influenza. For four months, during flu season, 2,050 children participated in the study. Those who drank green tea approximately five times per week had significantly fewer cases of flu compared to those who drank almost no green tea. Those who drank the most green tea (about one cup per day) also had significantly fewer sick days.

Less time being sick is certainly a good thing, particularly around the holidays. I think I'll see if my son would like to join me in a cup of the decaf mango green tea that I have at home.