There are so many ways to brew and drink tea. We know that some types of tea have tons of positive health effects when drunk on a regular basis. If you haven’t read it already we already listed out the benefits of Palo Azul.
Butter Tea Benefits
Today we are going to look at how adding butter to tea could be good for you.
History of Butter Tea
Probably, Tibet would be regarded as the home of the tradition of making tea with butter. The traditional version is called Po Cha in Tibetan culture. We know that in Asia, especially in China, there is a very old history of tea.
They way it is made is using a traditional ingredient called Pu-erh which is a fermented green or black tea. The ingredients are all added in a wooden churn called a “changdon” which is used to mix the brewed tea along with added yak butter and Himalayan salt.
This is the stuff the sherpas who trek up and down mount Everest live on. This high-fat, salty drink helps to keep their energy levels up; especially when doing heavy lifting at those high altitudes. So this is not a new fad thing at all. It is centuries old.
Benefits of Butter
Here is a list of some the reasons why butter, and not margarine is good for you:
High in Fat Soluble Vitamins
We need vitamins and minerals. Butter contains loads of healthy A,D, E and K vitamins. These are the fat soluble ones, which means you get them from sources of fat plus you need some fat with them to absorb them well.
Anti-Inflammatory Effects
Butyrate is the chemical ingredient found in butter that provides the beneficial anti-inflammatory properties. Its healing properties are being studied all the time. Some latest research, which you can read here, found that it helped to protect a whole bunch of immune system response.
Protects the Brain
Short-chain fatty acids, like butyrate, mentioned above have been linked with protecting the neurons in the brain in lab tests. We all want to have a sound mind as we age and this could be one way to achieve that.
Helps Weight Loss
Dr Atkins made high-fat diets famous with his version of it to help manage weight. Basically what happens is when your body starts learning how to run on ketones (fats) vs glucose (sugars) then you start burning fat for energy. This means you burn excess fat which helps people lose unwanted weight gain.
Helps Heal Leaky Gut
This is also known as intestinal permeability. When the lining of the intestinal wall becomes damaged, for various reasons, it can allow chemicals straight into the blood stream. This can cause an immune response, which leads to abdominal pain and feeling unwell. Butyrate in butter helps to heal the damaged lining of the gut again.
Bulletproof Tea
The good news is we don’t need to go to Tibet and have someone churn salty butter along with special fermented tea leaves. We can use any variety of tea, like Palo Azul, to make butter tea.
There is a version of making tea with added butter, plus coconut oil or MCT oil. This recipe is called Bulletproof Tea and is the modern spin on a traditional hot drink. It makes for an interesting experience on the palate that’s for sure. You got to try at least once. The added coconut oil ingredient provides the medium chain fatty acids, whilst the butter provides the short chain fatty acids. These two together provide different lost of beneficial health properties.