We are amidst a tea revolution, as tea today is no longer considered just a soothing beverage. It’s fast become a household alternative to some medicines and pharmaceuticals, and studies have shown that drinking tea regularly – both true teas (Camellia sinensis) and functional herbal teas – can help with weight loss, boost your immune system, fight off disease and inflammation and decrease stress.
When combined with natural products – such as turmeric, cinnamon, coconut milk powder, ginger extract, monk fruit fruits, herbs and superfoods, to name a few – tea can be viewed as an informational delivery mechanism to address specific health issues someone may be experiencing. It is this potent blueprint of natural ingredients contained in a fresh cup of tea that can initiate a hormonal chain reaction on a cellular level so powerful, it can completely change the trajectory of someone's overall health and well-being.
4 Key Areas Where Natural Products, Tea Converge
As an expert and industry leader in the natural products marketplace, I see opportunities for the tea industry to align with the natural products industry. Here are four of the key areas where natural products and tea converge, and how the natural products industry is promoting herbal teas or functional teas blends.
1. Accelerating Weight Loss
There is a common misconception that unwanted weight gain is a result of eating too much or eating unhealthily when, in fact, it is much more complicated than that (as we like to help people understand in the natural products marketplace).
While poor diet can play a role, the foundation of gaining weight can be attributed to a complex series of hormonal dysfunction and a breakdown in our body systems. A well-crafted blend of tea with specific natural ingredients – including acacia fiber, coconut milk powder, turmeric root 4:1, ginger root powder, cinnamon bark powder and black pepper extract – can immediately begin to work on addressing underlying issues, such as reducing inflammation, improving the gut microbiome, and helping to block unwanted fat. This is because teas have a type of flavonoid called catechins that can boost one’s metabolism and help the body break down fats more quickly. Additionally, the caffeine in many teas increases energy use, causing one’s body to burn more calories. Once someone has lost weight, tea can help them keep it off by preventing the metabolism slowdown, which is common after dropping a few pounds.
According to numerous studies, one of the most effective ways to burn fat is by eating cayenne pepper. Turmeric is another great example. In fact, in a 2012 clinical study, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine followed participants on a high-fat diet over eight weeks. Researchers found that the use of capsaicin – found in turmeric – increased body temperature, essentially stimulating thermogenesis as proteins in fat cells broke them down and reduced the synthesization of fat. Many in the tea industry and the natural products marketplace continue to add ingredients like turmeric to their tea-product offerings. Within the natural products community, we specifically encourage consumers to drink turmeric tea every day to help lose weight, perform an “uncoupling” of fat cells and a transition from unwanted white fat to brown fat, which is used for energy to begin your “flat belly” process.
2. Fighting Off Disease
Since COVID-19 first showed its ugly head in January 2020, keeping our immune systems healthy has been a popular topic this past year with all consumers. As a result, tea continues to be one of the hottest items people are buying at the grocery store, as they spend more time at home and seek premium, health-minded tea experiences. Blended with the right concoction of greens – including alfalfa grass, barley grass, kale, astragalus, mushrooms and oat grass – teas can be a powerful weapon in battling diseases. Fruits are also high in antioxidants and contain Vitamin C, which help take on inflammation, protect immune system deficiencies, fight off free radicals and reduce cholesterol levels.
A person’s natural immunity is a complex system that needs to be nurtured and supported daily. So, for those of us in the natural products marketplace or the tea industry, consider offering a “pure immunity” tea blend, which can help support, boost and protect your customer’s immune system.
3. Instilling Calm, Decreasing Stress
During a global pandemic when stress levels are at all-time highs, turning to medication to help deal with anxiety puts one at risk of adverse side effects. In fact, research suggests that anti-anxiety medication can increase one’s mortality risk by 36 percent.
In the natural products industry, many advise customers that drinking tea is a much safer and more natural solution to dealing with everyday struggles, as it instills a sense of calm and relaxation. Ashwagandha, for example – well known in both the natural products and tea industry – is an ancient medicinal herb and classified as an adaptogen, which helps your body manage stress while boosting brain functionality to help fight symptoms of anxiety and depression. You’ll often see many in the natural products community encouraging customers to blend a cup of tea before bed with ashwagandha root, milk and honey, as a way to help manage daily stress.
4. Improving Sleep
Indeed, getting a good night’s sleep is critical to one’s overall health, and natural products in this area are significantly on the rise – both within the natural products industry as well as the tea industry. In fact, for those who suffer from insomnia, combining natural plant products like chamomile and magnolia bark to tea has great benefits in relaxing one’s muscles and reducing irritability. In one study involving postpartum women who had poor sleep quality, research found that those who drank chamomile tea for a two-week period reported overall better sleep quality than those who did not drink chamomile tea. As the tea industry knows, chamomile’s calming effects are attributed to an antioxidant called apigenin, which binds to specific receptors in the brain that can initiate sleep. Consequently, more tea companies are tapping into this “improved sleep” segment of the market, and the natural products industry is doing the same.
Overall, the tea and natural products industries are both working towards the same goal – to significantly improve the health and well-being of the consumer. There is an immense opportunity for both industries to work together as teammates, rather than competitors, for years to come. The functionality that tea and natural products provide target an array of health benefits that other industries have yet to touch, and the convergence of the two can create the ultimate partnership.
