Feed Thyself

Dear TeaSpot,

I never believed this could happen to me. I forgot to blog for an entire month!

Love,
Me

I've also neglected to cold-brew iced tea, bake anything dangerous or delicious, and form complete, grammatically correct sentences. Don't worry, I haven't exactly been pounding Snapple and Chips Ahoy; more like re-balancing my intake and output. Of everything.

After so much time, even taking a decent photo of a cup of tea in the 7 a.m. sunlight can seem an arduous process. But tea isn't about suffering; in fact, it's about the complete opposite. And I've never stopped enjoying its quiet yet essential role in my every day.

I've also been thinking a lot about the role tea plays for its other adherents, and it seems, at least in most media, to be one of effect: There's no lack of articles extolling its health benefits, or even how to boost its value.

But when any food is considered solely as a vehicle for its nutrients, or evaluated primarily as preventive medicine, something strange happens. What we consume is such a fundamental part of what makes us who we are, and that gets lost if we look to products like green-tea pills and tea extracts. Yes, it's possible to isolate catechins in a laboratory, study their antioxidant effects and attempt to create a live-forever supplement. That doesn't mean it should be done.

I'm all for reading labels, and using nutritional science to understand what you're putting into your body. But food is not medicine. It's food. It provides, it nourishes, it comforts.



You don't need to analyze tea- just enjoy it. So sit down, shut up and drink a cup of matcha already. It's what I've been doing every single morning for the past month, and it's been sustaining me.