Crunchy Stewardship

Spilling the Tea on Tea: Quality, Benefits, and What to Avoid

• Katie Jones • Season 1 • Episode 21

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Not all teas are created equal! In this episode, Chrissy and Katie dive deep into the world of tea, exploring why quality matters when it comes to what you're steeping in your cup. From the hidden dangers of microplastics and bleached tea bags to the deceptive marketing of "natural flavors," they break down what to look for (and what to avoid) when shopping for tea.

Discover the incredible health benefits of various teas including elderberry, chamomile, dandelion, and turmeric, plus in this week’s Random Revelation, learn why the wise men's gifts of myrrh and frankincense were far from random - they were actually powerful postpartum healing aids! The cousins share their favorite tea brands, homemade tea recipes (including Chrissy’s famous pineapple ginger cinnamon tea), and practical tips for choosing organic, unbleached options.

Whether you're a tea newbie or a seasoned sipper, this episode will change how you think about your daily cup and equip you with the knowledge to make healthier choices for you and your family.


Helpful Links & Products Mentioned

Tea Brands & Products:

  • Clipper Organic Sleep Easy Tea - https://amzn.to/4mZsjwT
  • Traditional Medicinals - https://amzn.to/4682eEs


Health Products:

  • Active Skin Repair - https://amzn.to/3IiUNCx
  • Frankincense Essential Oil - https://amzn.to/4m8SZtX


Educational Resources:

  • Food Babe Kitchen Cookbook - Recipe source for golden milk latte - https://amzn.to/42mcTKD
  • Josh Axe - Health practitioner mentioned for dandelion tea benefits


Tea Types & Benefits Discussed:

  • Elderberry Tea - Immune system support, use within 48 hours of cold/flu onset
  • Chamomile Tea - Promotes relaxation, reduces inflammation and blood sugar
  • Green Tea - Antioxidant properties, reduces inflammation and cholesterol
  • Dandelion Tea - Multi-benefit herb for immunity, cardiovascular health, and cognition
  • Golden Milk Latte - Anti-inflammatory, immune boosting
  • Peppermint Tea - Headache relief, sinus drainage
  • Reishi Mushroom Tea - Potential cancer-reducing properties
  • Ginger Tea - Digestive aid, nausea relief, immune support


What to Look For:

  • Organic certification (avoids glyphosate and pesticides)
  • Unbleached tea bags
  • No microplastics in packaging
  • Avoid "natural flavors" in ingredient lists
  • Loose leaf teas when possible


Recipe Mentioned:

Homemade Pineapple Ginger Cinnamon Tea:

  • Organic pineapple rinds
  • 1-2 inches fresh ginger
  • 1-2 cinnamon sticks
  • Simmer 6-8 hours or use crockpot
  • Good hot or cold

Remember: This podcast is for educational purposes. Always consult healthcare professionals for medical advice.



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Chrissy:

Hello and welcome to Crunchy Stewardship. My name is Chris Rombach.

Katie:

And my name is Katie Fiola Jones. We are two cousins who are passionate about learning and sharing knowledge to equip others to steward their spiritual, mental, emotional, financial, and physical health in order to honor God in every aspect of their lives.

Chrissy:

In this podcast, we take very deep dives into what it means to steward our lives as God originally intended for us with the resource that he has already given. Us. We look at topics like food, medicine, finances, mental health, and tons more through a natural lens and with a biblical foundation.

Katie:

Now it is time for our random. Revelation of the week. In this segment that we have recently introduced to our podcast, one of us will share something that. We learned recently, probably in the past week or so, and this is kind of anything sort of crunchy or really anything at all. Just something that we have learned randomly throughout this week that typically does not have to do with the topic of the week. I guess it could be about the topic of the week, but in this case it's a way that we could just share something random that we've learned and that we want to share with you. So Chrissy, why don't you share with us your random revelation of this week.

Chrissy:

Yeah. My random revelation this week is it is not by accident that the wise men brought Mer and Frankincense to marry as a gift. When Jesus was born, I. Learned a little while ago that Mer and frankincense were actually used in postpartum healing back in the Middle East about 2000 years ago, which is about the time when Jesus was born and the area of the world that he was born in. And so I did a little bit more research into it and found out that both Mer and Frankincense are both incredibly anti-inflammatory, which is super helpful in the postpartum period. Your entire body is inflamed and so. Using Murin, frankincense, either as a topical or as an aromatherapy, help with anti-inflammatory. And they also are known analgesics. So thinking of like, Advil for example, is an anti-inflammatory and a pain reliever, and so. Mer and Frankincense pretty much work the same way as they actually act on the opioid receptors in our brains, um, in order to decrease pain with that anti-inflammatory property. And additionally, with that, um, me r specifically has been known for its blood clotting properties, which was used to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, so that is, uh, quite a fascinating thing and honestly more evident to me that like it was not by accident that the wise men brought murin, frankincense and gold. I mean, you're introducing a baby into the world, it's gonna cost. More money, you gotta feed a third person, you know, um, you gotta pro provide for a third person. So like, just more evidence. Every single thing happens for a reason. Everything in the Bible has intention behind it. And nothing happens on accident or by a fluke. Like it's all very intentional whether or not like Golden Marin frankincense were common gifts to give. When a baby was born in that time, I don't actually know. I would not be surprised if that was honestly just a common thing that, oh, a baby's born, let's give him Mer and frankincense, as opposed to nowadays the common gift is like, here's some clothes and diapers. You know? I just

Katie:

Yeah,

Chrissy:

that was, what was the norm to give as a baby gift? I don't know.

Katie:

that's a, that's a good point. I really love frankincense oil. Now, I think I mentioned it maybe when we did our, uh. Essential oils episode or at some point, I think I talked about how it really helped Malachi when he got a big bump on his head. We put on some frankincense oil pretty soon after he got the bump and it like did not bruise and the bump went away super quickly and it was like one of those things. That it, it literally felt like magic because the way that he hit his head on this thing, anyway, it, it, it should have been a giant goose egg, really big black bruised bump. Right? But we put this frankincense oil on it a little bit, um, right after it happened and then a little bit more later in the day and and he didn't get like a big goose egg and it is, so now I rub it on him. Whenever he hits himself or bonks himself or he gets a scrape or something, it's super, super helpful. So yeah, that would be a great gift. Like if you're looking for baby shower ideas, like that would be a super awesome one. Um,'cause it, it, there's so many benefits to Frank and sense that I've been learning that, um, it would be a great overall gift for Mama and baby. So yeah, put that on your ideas list for gifts for baby showers, but.

Chrissy:

normalize it. Normalize the frankincense.

Katie:

Normalize it. Yes. I love it. It's, it's a lot better than something like a Neosporin that's made from petroleum. Um, if you're also looking for alternatives to Neosporin, one of the things that I learned about and that we've been been using also on top of frankincense are not, not necessarily always together, but another. Thing that we've been using is, um, active skin repair, which is a kind of a similar topical kind of thing to a Neosporin, but it's natural and it's not made from like petroleum jelly. And, and when I say natural, I guess petroleum in the eyes of the, all the big three letter government. Uh, entities. They think that petroleum's natural,'cause you do find it in nature, but it's not, there's nothing natural about using it on your body. So active skin repair is made from all sorts of good stuff, which I don't off the top of my head, know the ingredients, but it's better.

Chrissy:

Yeah, so the main active ingredient in active skin repair is actually high. Chlor acid, hang on. Okay, so the main ingredient in active skin repair is hypochlorous acid, which is actually the. Um, product that our white blood cells release in our bodies when they are attacking pathogens. so it's pretty much a

Katie:

Oh.

Chrissy:

spectrum antimicrobial. It covers fungus, it covers bacteria, it covers viruses, and. It. Essentially, it's what our body uses as its defense mechanism. And crazy enough, before active skin repair came out, back when I was in nursing school, I was in a clinical rotation in a wound care clinic, and this rep came in and he was selling this brand new product called Vosh, and the way he. this product was, it's hypochlorous acid. It's the stuff that your body makes when your white blood cells are attacking pathogens and it's so non-toxic. You could drink it. don't recommend drinking it. It doesn't

Katie:

Oh boy.

Chrissy:

wanna drink it personally, but let me tell you. When we, so we now use that with our wound care in the hospital, and now I'm working in home health. And so we use it in the home often. Also, we do vosh soaks, which is the same active ingredient as in that active skin repair. And I am not even kidding you, Katie, for patients who have like low blood flow to their extremities and they have. Like discoloration in their lower extremities. Because of that decreased blood flow, we will wrap their legs in Vosh for 10 minutes, unwrap it, and even the color has improved in 10

Katie:

Wow.

Chrissy:

It's just, it's a wonderful product and I highly recommend it. The only thing with it though, is specifically vosh, I don't know about active skin repair. If they have. Countered this issue, but Vosh specifically does get oxidized, and so it only lasts for about three months after you open the package. Um,

Katie:

Oh,

Chrissy:

know about active skin repair, but Vosh is like

Katie:

that's a good question.

Chrissy:

yeah. Important to know because if it's oxidized, then it's not gonna work as well as it is supposed to. So, um, yeah, that's a really cool thing. I love vosh. I love hypochlorous acid. It's fantastic. Highly

Katie:

Yeah. Yeah, the active skin repair is great. We just, I keep it in my purse and I keep it around the house. It's in Malachi's, like diaper changing station.'cause it's like gentle enough that you can use it for any like diaper rashes or anything. He doesn't really get a lot. But the thing that he does get, he, he's a butt scooter and so he scoots around on his little butt and he does that anywhere. So like even on the grass and on the concrete. And so if he's wearing shorts. They like ride up and then he gets little scratches on his little butt cheeks and like, they're just like little things. But I always spray it like each day. Just'cause they're just, yeah, and it helps, and so usually the next day or the day after that they're gone and it's pretty magical the way that it works. So. Anyway, we should probably dive into our episode, but before we do, if you have been enjoying our podcast, we would love, love, love if you make sure to be subscribed to it first, and also to leave us a five star rating wherever you listen to these episodes. It. It helps us know that we are doing a good job and that you're enjoying this show, and that means that we'll continue to make these episodes, but it also helps other people find us in the future, which would be great. We'd love to get, um, the information that we are sharing out there. Um. So yeah, make sure to do that. And we also have a weekly newsletter where we're sharing some other little tips and fun stuff with you guys. So be sure to subscribe to that. You can do it by, uh, going to the description box or the show notes for this episode. We have a link to do that, but we are going to actually continue our conversation that we have been having over the last couple podcast episodes. A hundred percent not intended. We actually, originally, when we were thinking of episode ideas, we were thinking about juice, doing a blanket conversation about beverages and liquids and stuff in general. That turned into two episodes. We started off talking about just hydration in general and how to stay hydrated, so we kind of talked about water and electrolytes and, and things like that. So that was. Beverage episode number one. You can go and check that out. And then last episode, last week we talked about, oh, originally we were thinking we were gonna do coffee, tea, and alcohol all as one. You know, kind of these drink. Vices that we have, like those things that we get hooked on and we love and all that stuff. And then we just ended up talking about coffee forever because Christy and I have lots of thoughts about coffee. We both enjoy coffee and there's a lot of information these days about coffee, some of it conflicting. And so just, you know, go listen to that episode if you haven't already and you enjoy coffee and even if you don't, if you have a coffee drinker or coffee lover in your life, there's a lot of fun stuff. And obviously we talk. Not just about coffee.'cause Christine and I get on our little tangent, so go check out that episode. But that rolled into this next episode, we decided to just break'em all up. We're like, okay, that's just, it's not working for us to, to conceal one conversation about beverages in general. So now we are talking about tea in this episode, and then next week we will have a conversation more on alcohol. Um, and that'll be a really interesting, spicy conversation. So be sure to subscribe to our. Podcast, so you can stay tuned on that. Check out those other episodes as well. But let's roll into tea finally, Chrissy, uh, why don't we kick off this episode by answering the question. If you had to pick one tea to drink for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Chrissy:

So I have a new tea that I got from Sprouts. It is, it's kind of like a sleepy time tea except unlike so Sleepy Time tea in particular, like the, the actual Sleepy time tea, unfortunately does have microplastics in it, and so I've been trying to stay away from that one specifically. But it's also really nice to have just like a warm cup of tea before bed to kind of get the melatonin flowing, get any. Kind of calm down, calm my brain a little bit before I lay down, and so I have been drinking. Clipper Organic Sleep, easy Tea, and it's specifically the Nore and Peace one. I really enjoy it. It has organic camo meal, lemon balm, and lavender in it, and I honestly don't really taste the lavender all that much. I am not a fan of lavender flavor in general, like

Katie:

Oh.

Chrissy:

coffee, London fogs. Not my thing at all. Like any like flower flavor. I don't like it, but I do like herbal teas, so add the herbs. Great flowers. No rose. Not my thing, but. Yes, this snore and piece clipper tea is really, really great. It has no natural flavors in it, no colors. The bag is not bleached and it doesn't have microplastics in it. So, um, it's very relaxing, very soothing. It has a very mild flavor to it that's like. Tiny bit sweet I really like, and that chamomile really does help with the melatonin production. So enjoy it.

Katie:

Hm.

Chrissy:

does work and make me very tired, so I, uh, do not recommend drinking that. If you're gonna spend the evening chitchatting with a friend, try a different one, because that one's just gonna make you fall asleep in the middle of the conversation. What about you, Katie?

Katie:

I have a new tea that is kind of my favorite, and it's one that I was recently introduced to. I, well, I guess the tea in general is not new, but this brand or this, the place that I get it from is new. I really like elderberry tea. So elderberries are known to help with the immune system, and I. Really enjoy like a blended herbal elderberry tea. And recently, I actually have a friend out here now in Michigan who grows her own elderberries. She has a whole little business here, and she makes a really, really, really awesome. Elderberry peppermint tea, and I actually really love peppermint tea. So it's like a combination of these two things that are really great. And there's some other things in there too, but those are the two main kind of flavors that come out. And in the fall, winter time, I drink it a lot, especially when we're around sick people and we're trying not to get sick. I, I love having, um, an elderberry like herbal tea and stuff, so I've been, I was doing another brand for a while and then. I found out, you know, I, I heard about her little business that she had and then I asked her if she made teas and she was like, I do actually. So I have been getting her tea and really enjoying that and it's wonderful.

Chrissy:

So a question for you that you can ask

Katie:

I.

Chrissy:

because I. genuinely curious, are elderberries not like sold in the grocery store with fruits and vegetables? Like, we got strawberries, we got blueberries, we got blackberries. Why don't we have elderberries?

Katie:

You know, that's a really, really good question. One of my thoughts on it is actually if you eat elderberries alone or just like the flavor of them, they're really not that appetizing, honestly, like elderberry syrup, if it's. Very strongly elderberry. I actually had a conversation with her as we're recording this. We literally had this conversation yesterday. I was picking up tea from her house and she was explaining some of the process of making elderberry syrup.'cause a lot of times people use it as a syrup and they just like take a shot of it or you can mix it in with stuff. Um, and again, there's a lot of benefits to the elderberry for your immune system in like fighting off, getting sick and. I was talking to her about how Wes really does not like the elderberry syrup that we've had in the past. Like we have some at our house that we've been doing and, and I make him drink it when we are trying not to get sick.

Chrissy:

Are you in referring to elderberry syrup? Like a cough syrup kind of thing? Or like you put syrup on your pancakes?

Katie:

Uh, it could be used as both honestly. Some people do use it as like a syrup on top of stuff, and then some people use it as like a cough syrup kind of a thing. So it is, it's like, it's weird because it's like multipurpose and I, and I'm, again, I'm, I'm still actually pretty new to elderberry. We started using elderberry syrup, um, maybe not even a full year ago at this point.'cause I started learning about it and I was like, oh, sure we could try this. So. I actually had had some elderberry tea in the past.'cause it's a natural way, it's, it's safe while you're pregnant. So a lot of, uh. Uh, like pregnancy teas include it because it helps you stay healthy while you're pregnant. And so that's when I originally was introduced to it. But then the actual syrup and like benefits of elderberry more broadly were, were introduced to me not even a full year ago. And so we got the syrup. Wes doesn't really like it. He chugs it really fast. He hates anything like that usually. And so I was mentioning this to my friend and she was saying, yeah, well when she makes her elderberry syrup, you actually mix it with honey. And so. For kids, for younger kids, and people who don't like the flavor of elderberry, she adds more honey so that it's a little bit sweeter versus like, just strongly elderberry. Um, and then we also had this conversation because I was like, can you give it to Malachi, like kids who are, he's, he's almost 18 months. Um, he's, well, I, I guess he's, by the time that this comes out, he'll be closer to 18 months. He's about 16 months right now. Um, so anyway, she said. For kids under the age of one, you typically, it's recommended not to give them honey. And so she makes elderberry syrup with maple syrup versus honey because of the, I don't even know what it is in honey anymore that it is that you wanna stay away from for babies, but she makes it with maple syrup instead, which I was like, oh, that sounds really good.'cause I actually really like the flavor. Of maple syrup. But anyway, we've been talking about this longer than I expected to, but elderberry is my favorite tea right now. And I, my, my theory back to what you asked my theory as to why it's not in the grocery stores is'cause honestly, elderberry itself is not the greatest flavor, but when it's mixed with other things, I really like it. So like the peppermint, it's really good in that tea. So there you go.

Chrissy:

Fascinating. The more you know.

Katie:

Chrisy. Okay, so here's my next question. So you mentioned about your tea that the reason, one of the reasons you really love it, this brand is that it doesn't have bleach bags. It stays away from like the microplastics and stuff. And I think you also mentioned that it was organic, which means that it's skipping the whole glyphosate and all the other pesticides and GMO stuff because it's organic. So. Why, why is that a big deal? I think we kind of, uh, it's funny because I think we've, we've talked about tea on different episodes, like just briefly here and there because there, there are a lot of benefits to it and it's a really great way to like stay healthy and, and get all these things naturally versus like taking medicines. But why don't you talk a little bit more about why that's important, that it's not bleached and why it's important to not have the microplastics and so on and so forth.

Chrissy:

Yeah, so think about it this way, if. Heating something up naturally makes it softer, more loose. And oftentimes, like see if you're dissolving something in a liquid, going back to chemistry. The increased temperature makes something dissolve faster, so it changes its chemical properties easier. so in terms of all three of those things, the uh, being organic, the microplastics and the bleach for all three of them, first off, if you try to steep a teabag in ice cold water, it's just not gonna work like it. The tea bag stay. All the tea stays in the tea bag and your tea, your water does not turn into tea because it needs that hot temperature in order to and extract those flavors and the health benefits from the tea leaves themselves. with that. If your teabag is bleached or is made with microplastics or if your tea is not organic and has pesticides and herbicides and glyphosate on it, then all of those things are also leaching into your tea, into your water, essentially. In addition to the things that the tea was made of, especially like if the tea is made of natural flavors, then boom, you have natural flavors in there. And so it's really important to be aware of the processing of your tea before you drink it because. Ultimately anything that touched that tea that into contact with it, at any point in time is going to seep out of the bag or off of the bag and into your tea and you're just gonna be drinking it. And because it's warm, it the warm. Liquid in general also stimulates your digestive system more so and so it'll make you absorb these things faster, which is great if you're using an her herbal tea as a medicinal sort of thing. For its medicinal properties, like we said with the elderberry tea and improving the immune system, the chamomile and increasing melatonin production make you more sleepy. Um, but at the same time, if you're increasing that digestion with the microplastics in the bleach and the glyphosate in it, then those things are going into your body that much quicker and they are causing more harm to your body. So that is just an overarching reason why it's so incredibly important to. Be intentional about the teas that you buy. I'm not saying though, to go throw out all the tea that you already have because not about that. I am of the perspective of finish what you got then go buy new, and so. I'm gonna be honest, I still have some teas in my house that have microplastics in them, and I still have some teas that have natural flavors in them. did my friend call me out for it this week? Yes. Peep Rachel. Thank you.

Katie:

Uh.

Chrissy:

She literally, she was looking through my tea box'cause I, they came over, uh, for dinner and I offered tea after dinner and she was looking through and she pulled this one up. She goes, Chrissy, this is Lemon Ginger probiotics. And it says it's, flavored with natural flavors. I cannot believe you have this in your house. I said, you know what? I don't even care because I bought that before I got crunchy. And she goes, also, if it has probiotics in it and you steep it in hot tea, doesn't that just kill all of the probiotics? Which

Katie:

Oh

Chrissy:

right. Temperature does

Katie:

yeah.

Chrissy:

probiotics, which side note, I think I mentioned this in a previous episode, that's one of the reasons why our bodies get a fever when we get sick is because. An increased temperature de nature's bacteria. And

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

bacteria causing an illness, then our body increases its temperature in order to find that bacteria easier because it weakens the bacteria, because it doesn't work at that temperature. But anyways, that's a side note back to the T. So she was like, Chrissy isn't the steeping of the tea just killing the probiotics Anyways, I was like, Rachel, just stop looking at that tea bag and put it away. Choose

Katie:

That is so, that's so interesting you say that. I, I know that, like I've learned that recently, especially like I've begin getting into making yogurt and um, fermented. Foods more often, um, especially using homemade whey that I have in my fridge. And so like, it, it's got all those natural probiotics and they kind of talk about how I actually just heard on a podcast, no, maybe it was a book or something like that, where they talked about if you can touch something without getting burned, then you know that the, the good bacterias aren't going to be killed off. So I'm like. Maybe if you use more of a lukewarm water, which also you, you wanna steep tea in like a hotter, I wonder what the instructions are. You should read that at some point and let me know. Because I wonder if they have like a, this is how you do it to keep the probiotics.'cause yeah, it would kill them off. I mean that's the whole reason that they pasteurize milk and what they do is like they heat it and they boil the milk to kill off all of the good bacterias in it and Yeah. That's so funny.

Chrissy:

You know, since we're talking about it, why don't I just go grab one of those tea bags and take a look at it and.

Katie:

You should do that.

Chrissy:

I. Okay, so I just went and I grabbed my probiotic lemon ginger herbal tea. It looks super fancy and good for you.

Katie:

Max is like, what are you doing? You're crazy.

Chrissy:

the bed.

Katie:

Oh my gosh. That's even better. I didn't even see that on the camera. Uh.

Chrissy:

Anyways. unfortunately this is not a super high quality tea. It doesn't have any temperature requirements or suggestions. It merely just says Too steep for four minutes. So that's all. I got deep for four

Katie:

You know, I bet that they didn't.'cause usually when you look at a lot of tees, they will say like steep it to like a high. Hundred and 80 to 200 degrees or something like that. Or they'll even say like boil the water, so they give you like a general temperature range or the fact that it needs to be really hot. Right. I wonder if they don't on that tea, just so that they can claim, like if you go and you're like, well it killed all the probiotics and it's not doing what it needs to do and it's not helping heal my gut and all these things, they're probably doing that just so that they don't have to like. Say it. I don't know. It's like the war. It's like, well, they never said that it had to be this hot. Like obviously if you want the probiotics, you don't wanna warm it up that much. I don't know. That's probably they, they just added the quote unquote probiotics to sell it for a higher price or make it more attractive in marketing.

Chrissy:

Marketing schemes never get away from them.

Katie:

No.

Chrissy:

But that's okay. The more you know about marketing schemes, the more you're able to act in opposite of them and not let them impact your buying capacity. So as a consumer, that is one thing that we can be aware of is all of the, You know, marketing slogans of may help reduce your cholesterol, could help

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

potentially helpful with X, Y, z, um, not guaranteed satisfaction guarantee if you use this little teeny tiny amount and it, it has this little tiny effect on you, you know? Um,

Katie:

Or even like recently, did you, was it, I don't know if it was you that sent it or someone sent it to me, but it was. It was a, a mayonnaise that was advertised as avocado oil mayonnaise. But then if you flip it over and look at the ingredients, it does have avocado oil, but it also has soybean oil and canola oil and like all these other seed oils in it. So it's like, yes, it was made with avocado oil and it says that on the front, but then on the backside it also has all these terrible oils in it for you. So it's like half. Truths where, uh, it's just like you're trying to do the healthier option for your family. You can never, ever, ever rely on the front of the package because even if it says it's made with this, well, sure it might have that one ingredient, but it also might have all this other bad stuff. Or if it says like no added sugar, but then it has like some other fake sweeteners in it, those are even worse than the regular like sugar.

Chrissy:

added sugar is like a red stop sign to me. If it says no

Katie:

Yep.

Chrissy:

I'm like, ah, peace out. I'm not even gonna look at the back of it'cause I know it has sucralose or aspartame or something

Katie:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

So.

Katie:

Yeah. Yeah. So you gotta be, you gotta be careful for that. Teas, that is another one. Like I went to a really kind of bougie feeling tea shop a while ago in a mountain town in Colorado. I was really excited. I, I talked with the person, they're like, yeah, our teas are organic and stuff. And I'm like, that's really cool. And, and they, they even told me they're not certified organic, so that way they don't have the actual organic label, but they are, they don't use any. Pesticides or herbicides on their crops. And I was like, cool. That's awesome. I, I appreciate that they knew about what I was asking, you know, so I felt good buying the tea, but shame on me because I did not read the label myself when I came home and I was going through my educational process of learning about different things in teas and how so many teas add natural flavors. I went through all of mine and I was like, oh, surely not all of these have it. And lo and behold, this bougie shop. Had, you know, it was like a lavender earl gray tea, and it was like lavender, like an earl gray tea and some other little like, like spices and stuff. And then, uh, like the third ingredient was, um, natural flavors. And I was like, no kidding. Like why? And, and it was a nice like. Loose leaf tea, you're like, why do you have to add natural flavors? That was when my mind like really was blown to the idea that the natural flavorings have to be some sort of concocted processed. liquidy goose because it is the tea that it, that it was, that it came from it. It was a loose leaf tea. So, you know, they use the actual leaves and the lavenders. I could see that in the tea box, but then whatever this natural flavoring has to be like. Processed into the tea. So now I'm thinking about like, how did they get it in there? Did they actually heat up the tea previously, like the tea leaves in order to get these natural flavorings into it? What does this look like? And that was the point where I'm like, I really know, when you say natural flavors, it is. It, it just doesn't need to be there because tea especially does not like, if it is good quality tea, it does not need these natural flavors into it. And it, it's just, it's so frustrating because I'm like, I literally have made tea from the leaves in my backyard, like when I've had peppermint and chamomile and lavender, like I've literally made it myself and it is just as good as a lot of the packaged stuff. And why are you making it like this? I, I just, that made me really sad and I actually left a really, really bad review on Google reviews there's a couple of them in Colorado and I, uh, I've been known to leave some saucy reviews for some places, and that was one of the ones where I was like, I felt very gypped because I did have a nice conversation with them about the organicness and not using pesticides and stuff. And here you are. Dousing it in whatever this natural flavoring is, and I'm sure it's nothing. Great. So that was sad.

Chrissy:

You know what's another sort of tea that I have learned is actually very beneficial for your health is dandelion tea. I've been hearing more and more specifically from Josh Acts. He seems to be the one to drop the dandelion quite frequently. Is just dandelion just seems to be so good for you in like

Katie:

Hmm.

Chrissy:

aspect in immunity, in cardiovascular health, in losing weight, all the cognition, like all these things, they, it just, it's like a kind of a catchall of health sort of thing. And so I actually have it on my list, my shopping list to buy today when we go grocery shopping, because I'm very curious as to like what dandelion and tea even tastes like, because I just like envision it tasting like dirt. Because I kind

Katie:

Yeah,

Chrissy:

kind of smell almost like dirt. Like they don't really smell all that fragrant like Jasmine,

Katie:

totally.

Chrissy:

has this very floy kind of smell, but like dandelion is very just like

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

smell.

Katie:

Like pungent, it's like a, yeah.

Chrissy:

Yeah, I anticipate it kind of tasting not the best, but also at the same time I'm like, that's probably a really great thing just to have in the house where like, oh, I come home from work and maybe I was in a smoker's home that day for. Two hours and my sinuses are just from that. Like to drink dandelion tea is probably a really great thing for me to be able to do at the end of the day for situations like that or days where I'm like, oh, I feel like I'm starting to get a cold kind of thing. Probably also that elderberry tea that you were talking about is not a bad idea to have also.

Katie:

I have a note here. With elderberry tea it says use within 48 hours of the onset of a cold or flu, and it can help shorten the duration of the illness. It also helps ease allergies. It has cancer preventative properties. Um, it's a natural diuretic. Uh, what's interesting about tea in general is that there are, and especially like the way that it gets paired with one another, it's not just like for flavors because, let's be honest, like tea does not have a very strong taste. And that's why like Wes literally has sipped some of my tea and he's like, he literally is. Tastes like you're drinking, like watered down flowers or stuff that it's kind of exactly what it is. So it's not necessarily that tea is like, Ooh, this tastes like so delicious. Because yeah, I, I would say again, it's like in the last episode we talked about like our, palettes being matured and it is like a, your palate kind of gets matured to the flavors over time. But I wouldn't say it's like delicious really. It's not like I wanna go back for it all the time, but. There are so many benefits to drinking different teas. Um, I've like this list that I have written down in my Google Docs the elderberry tea is one of them. Chrissy mentioned like chamomile and how it helps to promote relaxation. Can you hear that helicopter? It is literally shaking this room. That was sketchy. Like my, like desk just started shaking anyway. Um, chamomile tea helps promote relaxation. It also helps to reduce inflammation and your blood sugar, which is kind of cool. Um, some of the big ones like green tea, has been used for. Centuries, literally like, from ancient China is, really where you get like the use of tea and green tea specifically, um, has a bunch of uh, benefits like reducing inflammation, um, and cholesterol. And it also is really good. Like it's a, it's a good antioxidant. Um, a lot of them tend to be, helpful with Like being an antioxidant and um, helps reduce inflammation A lot of them help to just give you that, um, relaxation in general. You know, obviously with chamomile it does kind of make you more sleepy, but like something like an oolong tea does help to kind of calm your blood pressure and, um, bring on a sense of relaxation. And a lot of them too. Have like some anti-cancer properties to them. Um, one of the ones, actually, we kind of talked a little bit about mushrooms last time, but you can actually get tea with like REI mushroom in it. And so it can, like, reishi mushrooms specifically has been linked with like a lot of cancer reducing properties and so I would highly recommend checking that out. I've never tried it. Um, but there's,

Chrissy:

tastes like dirt.

Katie:

yeah,

Chrissy:

But

Katie:

probably does. Yeah, but if it's like mixed, like you think about if the reishi mushroom is mixed with something like, like a green tea or um, even like a ginger, I feel like that would be really good. Like ginger. For those who don't know, I feel like it's pretty obvious.'cause you think about like, um, what is it like ginger. Ginger ale. Gosh. I'm like thinking, what does that drink, that people drink that has ginger in it? Ginger ale is really good for upset stomachs. Well, ginger itself is known to help relieve nausea. Um, it also does help build your immune system. A lot of these teas also help with immunity to other things. So I actually drink a lot of ginger tea after a really big meal'cause I know it's gonna help with, um, digestion So it's really beneficial.

Chrissy:

You know, it's one tea that Max and I have actually made homemade quite frequently is a. Pineapple ginger cinnamon tea. So

Katie:

Ooh.

Chrissy:

we get a pineapple, we always buy an organic pineapple. For this reason in particular, um, we will bring it home and actually wash it really well before we cut it. And then we take all of the rinds of the pineapple that we usually throw in the trash, and we, um. Simmer it on the stove with maybe like an inch or two of ginger and one or two sticks of cinnamon, and you just simmer it for like a good six, eight hours, kind of just all day. You could also do this in a crockpot really, and by the end of it you just get like this mildly sweet eat kind of a little bit spicy. Tea that is just so yummy and we end up drinking it really quick. It's actually good. Both hot and cold. We'll put it in the fridge and it we usually make like maybe eight to 10 cups of it. Um, and it's usually gone within two days because it's just so good. It's nice to just sip on. It leaves like a really pleasant flavor in your mouth. Um. because I, I don't know about you if you've noticed this, but like some teas kind of just leave like a icky flavor in the back of my mouth. And that might just be the natural flavors ones that

Katie:

I was,

Chrissy:

associating with that icky flavor in the back of my mouth.'cause now that I'm saying this out loud, I'm remembering like if something's actually natural, it's not gonna leave an icky flavor in the back of your mouth.

Katie:

Hmm

Chrissy:

shouldn't make your breath smell all that horrible unless it's garlic or onions. That's a different uh, different situation there. So, yeah. But just really love making our pineapple ginger, cinnamon tea,

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

it also like when we get sick and stuff, it's like, oh, we gotta buy a

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

can make this tea because it's so good.

Katie:

Yeah. Pineapple. I think it's what it's like anti, like an antihistamine kind of thing. Is that right? Like it's supposed to be really good with like your nasal passages and stuff. Right.

Chrissy:

I think so. don't, I've heard a lot of like random benefits from pineapple. I haven't actually looked into it to see what they are.

Katie:

All I remember is that when. When we were kind of going through like a small sickness thing last year. I remember hearing on a podcast around that time that pineapple is really good for helping drain your nasal passages and all that stuff. So, um, it was like right when Malachi started eating foods, like solid foods and so we were giving him pineapple. It was really funny to watch him like, try and eat the pineapple'cause it's kind of, you know, s but Wes and I were eating a ton of it and so that was. Yeah, that was really good. Another like, uh, big one that we use a lot of and, and it's not even just in tea because Wes, again, he doesn't drink tea, but he'll do like, especially like a lot of these things can be turned into spices and stuff that you can use in meals. But one of the big ones is, um, turmeric. And so turmeric, if you're not. Familiar with it. It's really, really orangey red and it has been known to like stain things. So when you use it, just be really careful'cause it's like very bright and very powerful. So when you're cooking with it, especially, just be careful, but. It is anti-inflammatory. Um, I know that it has been known to reduce, uh, pain from arthritis. It does help boost your immune system, which is our big thing is like we just always look for ways to boost our immune system throughout the winter seasons. But it's also good for like, things like irritable bowel syndrome and stuff. So one my favorite way actually. So we, we do cook with it a lot. We make like a lot of Indian dishes and so we cook with turmeric. Often actually, well, we even put it in our tomato soup that we made recently. But, um, one of my favorite ways personally to drink it is actually in a golden milk latte, which Chrissy, you guys might enjoy this if you like, kind of like the simmery kind of stuff. Um. I typically make it with like coconut milk, so you do coconut milk and turmeric and ginger. I add some, like cinnamon into it and then like a dash of maple syrup to kind of sweeten it a little bit. And it is so good, especially in the middle of winter, like I love drinking it when it, there's like snow outside and it is like a nice, like spicy, warm drink. Um, and it has just a lot of benefits with each of those spices and it's, it's really good for your immune system, um, in the winter. So I would definitely recommend making that I just simmer it on the stove and then drink it really fast.

Chrissy:

Have you ever tried it with just normal, like whole milk as opposed to the coconut milk?

Katie:

Um, I actually haven't, I, I actually really love coconut milk and we get a lot of coconut milk. I recommend if you're, if you want like all the good benefits from coconut milk doing like a whole fat coconut milk and it's like really rich and creamy, but I can imagine that making it with just a whole milk is probably just as good. I know that the recipe that I've used this from. It's actually from, um, the Food Babe, Fanni, Hari's, uh, recipe book. She also recommends potentially doing almond milk, but I have been hurt hearing mixed reviews about almonds and almond milk lately because of the way that it's processed. But I don't know. I've, I've never been a fan of almond milk in general. I love coconut milk though, so I've really only made it with coconut milk, so, I dunno. You should try it with whole milk. Tell me what it's like.

Chrissy:

because honestly, I have never been a fan of any other kind of milk other than just like cow's milk. I've tried almond milk before. I've tried coconut milk before, but like they're kind of just, they're just not milk it, it's like

Katie:

Yeah,

Chrissy:

and I just don't like it. So.

Katie:

We do a lot of Asian food cooking and a spec, like specifically we do a lot of Indian food in our home. And so coconut milk is used in a lot of curries, um, in Indian dishes, and so we get lots of coconut milk and when I get like a giant case of it, and so we use it a lot.

Chrissy:

That actually makes a lot of sense since the, the cow is like sacred in India and so it makes sense that they don't drink. Cow's milk because they don't eat cow there. so I

Katie:

Yep.

Chrissy:

a friend who used to live in India and she said that frequently they actually had, uh, buffalo milk instead of cow's milk. Like when she went to the market, she could buy like

Katie:

Weird.

Chrissy:

of buffalo milk. Like that's interesting.

Katie:

Oh, by the way, uh, follow up on our conversation from another podcast episode. I got goat's milk. I finally tried goat's milk. We have some in our fridge. We have like a, a. A quart of it, a quart of, uh, goat's milk. And it is really good. It tastes like goat cheese, which makes sense because that's what goat cheese is made out of. But it was funny because I was like tasting it and I was like, this tastes really familiar. And then Wes tasted it and he's like, it tastes like goat cheese. And I was like, you're right. That's what it tastes like. And he's like, well, I mean, don't they use goats milk to make goat cheese? And I was like. You're right. That's what they do. Oh, yep. That makes a lot of sense. What tastes like goat cheese or maybe goats cheese tastes like goats milk, which obviously is where it comes from, so it's really good.

Chrissy:

am. I'm glad you made that

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

Katie. important.

Katie:

It's so good. Uh, yeah, but I don't like, I don't like the, oh, occasionally I've had oat milk and it's been okay, but I like the flavor of oatmeal, so I'm like, milk, oatmeal. Yeah. I dunno. It's kinda weird. But a lot of them, if you look at the way, like the, again, going back to the ingredient list, a lot of them have added sugars and different things. So it's not just the. Almonds or the oats or the whatever. Coconut milk though is different because it's just like, there is literally liquid inside of a coconut and then when you get it whole, like the whole fat, they um, kind of leave some of the actual coconut itself in it. And it's like just a really thick creaminess. And it is like, if you like coconuts, you will like coconut milk.

Chrissy:

meat into the coconut water? Oh.

Katie:

I think. So they probably do. Is is how it stays full fat because they. I don't know. I actually am not a hundred percent sure on that, I guess, so I can't say that for sure, but it's really good. I mean, if you, I, I love coconut. I, I get like, I keep the coconut shavings, like shredded coconut in my pantry and I have that almost every day on like my oatmeal or on my yogurt or stuff, because I just, yeah, I like coconut a lot

Chrissy:

is one of those things that I'm like trying to teach myself to like more. I do enjoy coconut shavings, like when I make granola, I will put. Organic coconut shavings in it, like no sugar added and things like that. Um, but when I've been, even just overseas, but like even in Florida or in Mexico or something, and like, you know, they have, order a coconut with your dinner and just like drink your drink is a coconut. Um,

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

if you go to like a beachy or something

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

I've just never enjoyed, just drinking the coconut straight from the coconut. It's always warm and kind of sour and I just don't like it. But I know it has so many health benefits that it's like one of those things that I want to like, and so every time I have the opportunity to like order a coconut, I do because I want to like it so bad and I still just don't

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

It's very unfortunate. Meanwhile, like there's people over there like chop the coconut in half and they're just like casually spooning the meat off the inside of the coconut and I'm like,

Katie:

Yeah,

Chrissy:

don't understand you,

Katie:

so good.

Chrissy:

to understand you. But I just don't get it. Can't

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

yet.

Katie:

Well, the good thing is that tea has a lot of good benefits that at least you have that to fall back on. Actually, another, I just randomly thought of this one too. Um. Peppermint in general, like, like pure peppermint is really good for headaches. I think we've talked about that before when we've talked about headaches and like, uh, the essential oil. Like we talked about it in that. But what, what I've been doing too is if I do have any kind of headache, which I honestly, I don't get them that often anymore since I've just been taking better care of myself that I don't usually get headaches, but if I do, I've been doing like a peppermint tea. So that, that really helps. Um. With headache relief and like, especially like sinuses too. So if you have like a headache with like a cold or something, it helps to like drain the nasal passages. Um, and I usually put essential oil, like peppermint oil in a bath for Malachi if he's like got a little runny nose.'cause it just helps drain it really well. So

Chrissy:

Good

Katie:

yeah, it's really good.

Chrissy:

Good to know.

Katie:

I I actually, before we end this, I actually have to, like, I, I've been thinking about this the whole time and it, and I just have to throw it out there because it's, we're talking about tea and I, and we're talking about like herbal tea versus black teas and green teas and stuff, like the black and green teas are like true tea leaves and they're, they're made in a very specific place in China. I, and I have to mention this because I learned it in like a tea class a long time ago, that I was just like a. Little random thing that I took at our church. There's a woman who knows a lot about tea and so she taught us, and then I read it, I reread it in a book, uh, about a year ago. And I was like, I'm gonna make my own teas. And then I realized that in order for it to actually be considered like a true tea, it has to like come from this place and be grown in this specific way. And that's where like actual black and green teas come from. Um, but when it's, when we talk about herbal teas. It's not technically tea because it doesn't have those specific leaves in it. It's made from like flowers and herbs, and it's made from like roots, like ginger. Right. You know? So it's like you're not actually using tea. And so they're more like, I don't even remember the word that she used. Yeah, it's like a, like an infusion, right? Yeah, like a soup, a flower soup,

Chrissy:

just like cereal is

Katie:

which is just kind of funny. Yeah, it's okay. That is an interesting way to think about it, I guess. So

Chrissy:

Is it not?

Katie:

soup for breakfast. I, I guess,

Chrissy:

Some

Katie:

I don't know,

Chrissy:

a liquid cereal is

Katie:

I, I guess so. Cereal soup, but then, what do you call, like oatmeal I've always thought about is like hot cereal, so it's just soup.

Chrissy:

a

Katie:

I don't even know. Anyway, I had to throw that out there because there is a tech, like if people are like, oh, you're not even talking about this, but it, there is like a technical distinction between teas and like herbal teas because they're not technically tea.

Chrissy:

Good to

Katie:

So I don't know.

Chrissy:

go to China, I will definitely keep that in the back of my mind. But here in America, anything that is leaves soaked in steeped in water equals tea.

Katie:

Yep. Totally. So, I don't know, I just had to throw that out there'cause I was thinking about it from the beginning and I meant to mention it. And now here we are at the end of our episode. Uh, yeah.

Chrissy:

Well, since we are near the end of our episode, um, let's go into the. Community conversations, which is a segment that we introduced a few weeks ago. Where we highlight a comment or a message or a conversation that we had with somebody about our show, whether it be through our Facebook group or in a comment section. So, Katie, do you want to do our community conversation highlight for this week?

Katie:

Yeah, my shout out is actually to my dearest mother. Hello mother. I love you. I know that you will listen to this probably, uh, in like six months from now'cause you're going through our podcast very slowly. But that is great. I love you so much. Um. She actually mentioned, so she actually listened to our sunscreen episode, or maybe she just talked about it with her friends. She was mentioning it to her friends and what was

Chrissy:

me,

Katie:

interesting,

Chrissy:

she listened to it out loud with all of her friends, like sitting or. Around the phone listening to the podcast together, and I kind of envisioned that. It was kind of cute to me, like, oh, I

Katie:

yes,

Chrissy:

Like all these women

Katie:

I.

Chrissy:

around the phone listening to our sunscreen episode.

Katie:

It is so cute. My mom likes to turn anything into a social event, and so I think every one of her epi, like one of our episodes that she has listened to, she has listened to with somebody else. And so I know that like in car rides with her friends, that she has listened to them or like with basically with. Other people, which is great. And so if you are one of my mother's friends who has now been listening to our podcast, thank you for listening. We love you and we love that you're here and we'd love to hear from you. So definitely reach out because this is kind of like a. A conversation that my mom had with one of her friends about our episode, and I found it very interesting because it's a, a, an idea that I've never heard of myself, but they were talking about this sunscreen episode and my mom's friend said that she actually uses like olive oil as a form of sunscreen and was talking about all the benefits of it and all this stuff, and actually recommended. A store, like a natural grocery store that's like an hour away from us in a town called Traverse City. And it's like, like this bigger town kind of city like thing. City is definitely not the word I would use for it, but where I'm from now, it's very rural. So Traverse City is like the city and. There's a natural grocery store and she gets her olive oil that she uses for sunscreen from this place. And so anyway, it was just like really cool that the highlight here is that our podcast is sparking these really awesome conversations where we're all kind of learning from one another. And so I did a little bit of deep diving into some olive oil stuff, and I did notice that there are some benefits to using it on your skin in the sun, which makes sense because you think about like where. Olive oil typically comes from more in the Mediterranean. They probably did that and probably used it as like a skin barrier thing from the sun. So I don't know. Kind of interesting.

Chrissy:

they all get their olive tone, skin

Katie:

Oh my gosh, mind blown. Literally right now I'm like, oh. No way. Wow. That's crazy. Well, that is the shout out for this week. Just like a thanks mom for sharing that conversation that you had with your friends. Keep it up. Keep it up, ladies. You're doing great. Well, we, we really do, we love having these conversations with you guys, and we don't want this conversation here, whether it's about olive oil or about teas and beverages and stuff. We don't want the conversation to end right here. This whole journey that we are going on is, honestly, it's a lot more fun when we're learning together, and it's a lot more interesting when we talk about these things together. So we know that you have your own stories about this stuff. Please share your experiences, share your knowledge. We, we really do enjoy going through this with you, so drop us an email. You can always respond to our weekly emails that we send out. You can leave us a comment on this episode or any one of our episodes in the past or in the future, or come join us over at our Facebook group, which is Crunchy Christian Mamas, on a budget where we're, we're keeping these conversations going all week long. So we'd love to hear from you. Come and join us there. Um, but with that, thank you for listening. Um, we're praying for you guys and, and hope that this conversation was a blessing to you. My name is Katie.

Chrissy:

And my name is Chrissy,

Katie:

We'll see you next time.

Chrissy:

for listening to Crunchy Stewardship.

Katie:

Bye.

Chrissy:

Bye.