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It's the time of year when many people's minds turn to their health and wellbeing. We at Dormouse are all for positive wellbeing, we find a lovely jam and cream scone does wonders for our mental health. But what about actual proven benefits from drinking tea?

Recent studies into green tea for example have linked it to warding off Cancer and protecting against Alzheimers but did you know that even most people's normal everyday cuppa can help their health?

Both black and green teas are full of antioxidants which help protect your body from free radicals (these are molecules that damage your cells and have been linked to ageing or causing cancer). Tea can also help keep you hydrated and will rehydrate your body as effectively as a glass of water and counts towards your recommended 1.5 litres a day

Tea also has beauty benefits directly applied to the skin. You can make a soothing spritzer

When we are choosing milk our preference at Dormouse is organic, local and non-homogenised.

It's only fairly recently that homogenized milk has become the norm in the UK. When the majority of our milk came from the milkman then it was all non-homogenized, when we gave up that great institution and started buying it in the supermarket, then we didn’t just change the delivery method but also made a switch to homogenization.

You may be suprised to learn that homogenization has no health or storage benefits to the milk. It’s only purposes are aesthetic and the fact that you don’t need to shake the bottle to mix the cream. Homogenizing milk involves the breaking down of fat particles to such a small size that the milk looks nice and smooth with no chunks of cream, but these smaller fat particles can permeate the intestines and end up in your blood stream causing high cholesterol. It has also been suggested that the tiny fat globules can carry the deadly enzyme xanthine oxidase which damages artery walls. Fresh non-homogenized milk from the farm with its cream floating to the top is natural and not a harmful form of fat. The larger fat molecules pass through the digestive system and nutrients are properly absorbed without fat entering the bloodstream.

So, what do you get by buying non-homogenized milk, you get the kind of milk that you will remember as a child. Non-homogenized milk has that cream line at the top, so that everyone (who likes milk) wants to the one who gets to open the next bottle or carton and get the lovely fatty creamy bit.

Apart from the creaminess and the nostalgia of it, there are a number of other reasons why we prefer unhomogenized milk.

A lot of people and a few studies believe that there are health benefits associated with non-homogenized milk. Homogenized milk is supposedly easier to digest and there is some evidence that it is more likely to trigger allergies, and that homogenization can contribute to atherosclerosis. None of this evidence is overly strong, but why pass any foodstuff through a process that adds no positive health benefits, and may or may not add negative ones.
In the kitchen, because it has bigger fat molecules, unhomogenized cream takes about half of the time to whip that homogenized cream does, which is handy.

Apart from anything else though, and most important of all, is the fact that unhomogenized milk and cream simply tastes better! So why not order a pint or two from your milkman today!

Everyone wants to start the New Year with healthy habits, but did you know that tea can offer a helpful contribution to a healthier new you?

165 million cups of tea are drunk in the UK every day – but few people realise that not only is tea an enjoyable part of daily life, it’s also very good for you. New research has shown health benefits from drinking four cups a day - like fruit and vegetables, tea is a natural source of antioxidants which are known to be beneficial to heart health, and tea can also contribute towards your daily fluid intake.

There’s nothing like a cup of tea to lift your spirits and help you through the long winter, and now you can enjoy your cuppa knowing you’re also contributing to your overall wellbeing.

Tea myths & facts

Myth: Tea is dehydrating.
Fact: Tea is rehydrating, not dehydrating. In fact, due to the volume of fluid that is drunk whilst enjoying a ‘cuppa’, the British Dietetic Association advises that tea can contribute to the daily recommended intake of 1.5 to 2 litres.

Myth: The caffeine in tea means it’s bad for you.
Fact: Four cups of tea contain only moderate amounts of caffeine. Moderate amounts of caffeine throughout the day can aid concentration and therefore help performance.

Myth: Green tea is healthier then black tea.
Fact: Both green and black teas offer similar amounts of antioxidant capacity, substantially greater then that of fruit and herbal teas.
Like fruit and vegetables tea is completely natural. Tea leaves are simply picked and dried before being packed for sale. Nothing is added or taken away as all the flavour and goodness is already in the leaves and because they are dried there is no need for any preservatives.

For further information contact: UK Tea Council info@teacouncil.co.uk or visit http://www.tea4health.com/ for more information about tea and health.