Water Challenge

I started the Water Challenge yesterday. With some modifications.

The challenge is to drink a gallon of water each day for a month. Sorry, but I got halfway through my gallon by lunchtime and knew that it wasn't even feasible for me to do an entire gallon each day - unless I cut out all other fluid sources (coffee, fruit, veggies, etc). I will be shooting for a minimum of 100 ounces each day.

Because I know that it's beneficial to ones health (and vanity) to drink more water, I am sticking to the challenge, but I modified the amount. Not by much, but...

First, because it makes my brain hurt, let's get some math and recommendations out of the way:

• A 'cup' = 8 ounces
• A gallon (U.S.) = 128 ounces
• Certain factors need to be considered to determine individual fluid needs
• Here is a conversion chart for those who need it
• Foods that count as fluid (useful for those on a kidney diet - but see your doctor!)

Most recommendations I've heard of all my life are to drink 8 glasses (or cups) of water each day. So, I decided that my minimum target should be those 8 glasses (8 ounces each) of water each day - or 64 ounces. Like I mentioned, I am going to aim for 100 ounces per day, but I'm okay with 80.

Of course, we can find lots of benefits to drinking more water - or, I should say, enough water. I have to tell you that, even after just one day of drinking close to 100 ounces, I noticed one major difference: my hands didn't go bone dry in between moisturizing. Here are some other effects of getting enough water:

• May help prevent some kidney problems. 
• Water helps us feel full so it can help with weight loss
• Helps with food digestion
• Provides hydration which helps with skin issues
• Prevents dehydration. Uh, duh!

Even though there are lots of benefits to drinking water, I do hope people doing these water challenges realize there are also some risks to overdoing it:

• People with certain medical conditions/treatments have to watch fluid intake (dialysis patients, for example)
• There is such a thing as water intoxication.
• And, on a common sense level, don't let water replace intake of proper nutrition
• Always check with your doctor before making any drastic changes - even drinking lots of water for a challenge

I don't think I am going to have to worry about overhydration. I made it halfway through the day and realized why my pedometer app was sending me kudos for almost doubling my daily step level. I made so many trips to the bathroom that I was getting plenty of exercise. That made me want to laugh, but I was in the middle of the grocery store and too far from a bathroom to get into a giggle fit.

Lots of people are talking about drinking more water. I like this idea -

(source)

This is what my gallon jug looked like a couple hours before I went to bed last night (or attempted to) -

sigh...

Yeah. Then, after that, I still managed to put down another 16 ounces or so. It took me three tries to actually settle down and sleep. The first time, I was back up every twenty minutes or so, trotting to the bathroom.  (And I found this both high-larious and useful!!!)

This is what I'm using to drink from. 

It's an 18 ounce bottle that I picked up at Walmart for around $1.08. I feel like I can drain it pretty quick without feeling like I've got a ton of water to drink. It's a good way to pace my intake.

Today, I am going to try to get the first 80 ounces down before 6 or 7 pm. That way, I might be able to get a no-trot night of sleep before church tomorrow. 

I'm thinking that I might ought to mark my gallon jug the way some people are doing - 

Love this one the best
(source)

I love it! Looks so much better than what I did to mine this morning...

a little uninspiring :-(

Yeah. I'm going to be re-doing my bottle! LOL

Anyway, I'll be letting you know how the whole thing goes. If nothing else, I will lost a few pounds from all the extra walking to the bathroom!

yeah, that's me on the left

Peace

--Free

Decorative Dietary Fiber? Yep.

A few years back, when I first started juicing, I ran across an unusual piece of fruit. Tried it, loved it, but didn't get any photos.

Yesterday, I found the fruit at my local grocery store. Yay!

This is the dragon fruit. Or the pitaya.

Top: fruit has been removed
Bottom: Fruit still in the rind

When I was adding my own photos for this post, I found this one online.

Notice that mine didn't have this color of meat inside. Huh.

Now I want to find a piece of fruit with that deeper color of meat. Pretty. By the way, the source for that photo has an awesome smoothie recipe!

Other than being so very, very pretty, it's got a lot of dietary and tasty benefits:

• High in fiber
• Low in calories
• Low in cholesterol 
• Very "meaty" 
• Good source of antioxidants
• Pleasant taste (sort of like a blander kiwi fruit)

Here is a link to more info about and benefits of the fruit. I didn't even know about the fats and Vitamin C until I saw this page. 

If you are thinking of trying it, these links could be useful:

• Some caloric info and recipes
• How to choose, cut and serve the fruit
• Wandering Chopsticks has a recipe I can't wait to try
• Golubka Kitchen even has a salad recipe

So, there are a lot of ways to use this fruit. I kind of wish I could just shellac the shell and use it as decoration! 

Of course, it's kind of pricey. Everything tends to be more expensive up here, but I'm always surprised at the close to $9.00/lb price for this fruit. Thankfully, one piece is enough for at least 2  or 3 uses in juicing.

The advantage to this being such a pretty piece of fruit is that the shell can be used when serving it. 

(source)

(source)

If anyone has any other recipes, let me know.

Peace

--Free

**App REVIEW** DocuSign

This is a very cool app. It's not something that everyone can use but, for those who can, it's kind of awesome.

It's called DocuSign



Have you ever had someone use email to send you documents that need to be signed and returned? I have. While I do have use of a printer/fax machine, I share it with others. Sometimes, I am not at home and don't have access to the machine. These are all good reasons for having the DocuSign app.

Even when you have access to a printer or fax, the bothersome part about emailed documents is the, well, bother. You have to print out the doc, fill it out and sign it, and you're still not done. You have to scan it to mail it back, or (and this is a real pain), fax it or snail-mail it back to the other person.

Tiresome.

The DocuSign app saves you time and bother. Once you set it up. And once you get the hang of using it.

'Setting it up' means creating your signature and saving it to the app. That's actually a pretty easy process. 'Getting the hang of it' requires a little bit of patience.

The first time I tried it out, I found that it was simple to attach my signature.  For filling out the other parts of the document, I had to get used to aligning the text boxes correctly. That wasn't awfully hard except when the text box would disappear as I entered information. Of course, I would open a new text box and carry on.

When I completed my first document and saved it, all was fine. Until I reviewed my work and saw that the text boxes that I thought had disappeared, um, hadn't. They were just scattered around the page of the document in random places.

I figured out the problem - that I had somehow misaligned the text boxes out of my view when I was creating them - but I haven't figured out how to fix it. As far as I can tell, there is no way to edit a saved document.

I'm not saying there isn't a way to edit a saved document, but that I haven't figured out how to do that.

Still, this is an awesome app. Now that I have a better grasp of using the text boxes, I won't have as many errors. Even if I do have to scrap a document in the app and start over, that's better than the print/fax/scan option I'd be stuck with otherwise.


Once you complete a document (fill it out and/or sign it), you can then send it back via email. I'm still playing around with the app, so any nitpicking might be premature. It might help if I go and take a closer look at the Demo showing how it works, right?  Any app is subject to user skill...

So, to summarize my experience with DocuSign -

PROS:

• Saves time (once you get the hang of using it)
• Saves money (on printing, faxing, or scanning)
• Allows users to respond more quickly with signing on the go
• ISO compliant to security standards
• Complies with the eSign Act (basically, your signature this way is legal)

CONS:

• Bit of a learning curve in using
• Can't upload documents to the app via Dropbox
• Editing feature is either hidden or unavailable

This app is not without flaws and doesn't do everything that everyone might want it to, but it is FREE, so how much can you complain about anything it lacks? 

I gave this one 5 of 5 stars. 

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Dr Miller Miracle Tea - OR Cleansing Naturally (part 3 of 3)

This is going to be a long post, but I hope it's useful for anyone looking to switch up their eating habits. (By the way, Amazon has already credited my refund. Love those guys!)

Now that I've experienced the Miracle Tea and found that it just doesn't work for me, I figure this is a good time to resort back to a proven method for cleansing my body (colon and all).  The tea might be fine for most people, but I am going to get back to basics with my situation.

I've gone through many changes and challenges with food. I've done well and not so well. And I am going back over and taking a look at some of those situations. To give myself, some credit, I haven't done so badly with my nutrition in the past few years - at least when I'm actually thinking about what I eat.

For me, right now, back to basics means just eating right. If I do that, I shouldn't have to do any kind of cleanse, right? And I know that changing up my diet actually does work. So, I have changed it up. Or, rather, gotten back to some of the basics.

Pretty basic, right?

 When I was getting back into shape post-prednisone, I indulged in lots of fruits and vegetables. I love almost any kind of fruit, but I'm picky about vegetables. I had to learn to get a good intake of all kinds of veggies in a way that I could enjoy them. Also, eating healthy is stressful unless you do enjoy it.

You might remember my trusty blender. You know, from the first time I was on a detox.  Even after I finished losing most of the weight I wanted to, until a few months ago, I still enjoyed doing what I call a veggie binge on a regular basis.

Still trusty, after all these ye- uh, months

A "veggie binge" is what I do for a few weeks when my body is feeling out of sorts. I will do nothing but a massive amount of vegetables (via smoothies and salads) for three or four days of a week and, for the rest of the week, eat just about anything but bread and other starches.

This binge seems to re-regulate my body and boost my energy levels. If I was smart (or disciplined) enough, I would never go off the binge. That's what I'm going to try to work up to this time: adopting the binge as a lifestyle.

The key to this kind of diet is to shop smart. Here in Alaska, fruits and vegetables can be pricey (especially during the winter months) so you have to always stick to a really defined food budget. You have to cut out those "treats" of cafe-bought coffee and any food bought through a drive-through window. Also, you have to spend a little more time planning food prep.

This is not all as tricky as it might sound. At least not for me. I just have to not be lazy about my food needs. And there are so many benefits to eating better - especially for someone with health problems. Me.

First, let's look at some of those benefits:

• You can handle a lot of common physical complaints with changing up your diet: fatigue, constipation, mental sluggishness, skin and hair issues, etc.
• Even with my more serious health issues, I can get some relief from changing my diet. I lost weight which helped SO much as far as my joint pain; eating right cleared out some of the toxic feeling I got from being on different medications; drinking more water and eating certain things certainly helped my kidney function. 
• In my opinion, eating healthier helped my mental state. Instead of taking anti-depressants, I looked to natural sources of vitamins and minerals to help me. Depression is a big problem when you have a chronic illness - just because of the way a disease affects every other aspect of your life. I still have my moments, but those moments are worse when I'm not eating well.
• Controlling your weight is easier when you are satisfying your hunger correctly. If I'm going to overeat, I guess it's better to overindulge with foods that are giving me good nutrients instead of empty calories.

Common sense tells you that things like better nutrition, good rest, and less stress equal better overall health. Before I was diagnosed with my sarcoidosis, I was smoking like a house on fire, rarely eating right, not resting very well and, Lord knows, I had a bunch of stress to deal with. I always wonder if the sarc would have remained dormant if I had treated my body better.

My health is still nowhere near where I'd like it to be but, if I hadn't listened to my doctors and changed up my nutrition for several months, there's no telling how much worse off I'd be now. And, trust me, I don't want to get worse.

Anyway, Amazon has agreed to refund my money for the tea, so I was able to hit the stores and stock up for at least a two weeks of a veggie binge. You saw what I've been eating/blending for the past couple days. Here's what I got from the store:

It's actually dark PURPLE

• Collard greens
• Turnip greens
• Red Cabbage
• Broccoli crowns
• Apples
• Beets
• Raw almonds
• Soy milk (vanilla flavored)
• Vine tomatoes

Luckily, I already had on hand some things that I can use:

• Chaga nectar
• Green tea powder
• Raw spinach
• Raw ginger

By the way, I don't care what anyone says, I don't count tomato as a fruit. I'm going to use the apples and soy as my sweetening agents to mask all those veggies. 

Having just enough fruit to sweeten the blend is my trick for getting all those veggies ingested. Sometimes, I will add a tablespoon of frozen OJ (no water added) into the mix, but I forgot to get some.

I will do a approximately 20-ounce smoothie to get me through the main part of the day. Sometimes, that's enough but, if I'm still hungry for something, I will do salads the rest of the day. By "salad" I mean all veggies, no mixed dressing. My favorite salad is to drizzle extra virgin olive oil over some of the green veggies, add some sliced tomatoes and onion, then hit with a little salt and pepper. The tomatoes and olive oil make a kind of dressing of their own. Since we still have a bunch of eggs around, I might boil one to throw on top.

For the non-binge days, I will eat a really well-seasoned pork chop or piece of chicken that's baked or fried (yes, fried - but in olive oil) or I will snack on summer sausage and cheese. I can do without bread if my meat is good enough. Also, I can be satisfied with a snack of canned smoked clams or fish. By the way, I really have to watch my calcium intake, which is another reason I have to alternate my binge days with non-binge days.

If I do get tempted to snack on something not so nutritious, I just do it and move on. My biggest weakness is if someone comes home with pizza. I love pizza. Luckily, we hardly ever do pizza without a salad, so...

Anyway, I'm attempting to use the app that came with my latest phone. You know - the one I got to replace one went blizto right in the middle of a family crisis. Well, the app is pretty cool and not that hard. Just takes discipline to actually use it and pay attention to it. It's Samsung's S Health. The food tracking part of the app is a little bit annoying. Inputting is tricky and sometimes requires converting things. I hate math.

Looks like a lot of food, doesn't it?

I want to stick with this healthy eating plan - not for months at a time like I've previously done, but for life. For life. Hmmm.

If you are thinking of changing up your nutrition, maybe this will help:

This is what the Mediterranean Diet looks like (according to some sources)

And this is what I imagine most people eat. 

(And for the folks who claim it's how many calories and not where you get those calories, I disagree. That might work for weight loss, but we have to eat healthy food for better health.)

Which one more closely resembles yours?

This is some comparative information -

• Differences between the 2 diets and again
• Modern Mediterraneans might be slipping into unhealthy eating 
• Looking at healthy eating
• And then there's the Okinawa diet

The bottom line is that there are plenty of ways to eat healthy, every individual has to make the choice. Making good choices when there are so many bad alternatives around takes discipline and commitment.

I'm ready.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I recently heard about and tried the Smoocing (lite) app. It's for people who do juices & smoothies. My review is the only one up on Google Play as of today, if you care what I think about it.

**REVIEW** Dr Miller Miracle Tea (part 2 of 3) *UPDATED

(Part One of this review is found here.)

UPDATE TO THE REVIEW

WHY I NIXED THE TEA

Final Update (Hah!) *I have been granted a refund by Amazon. I think I have to print a shipping label for return, but I'm not sure because I got 2 separate emails from them. One said that my refund would be processed upon a scan of the return label, and the other indicated that they have already processed my refund. I will be checking with them for clarification. At any rate, it's cool to know that Amazon has a customer's back in cases like this. Thank you, Amazon!

Also, I have to mention that the Seller of the Miracle Tea also reached out to check on my satisfaction with the product. I'm waiting to hear further. I will upgrade my Amazon review by a star just because they at least are making an decent customer service effort.

So, I tried the tea yesterday for the first time and I'm not even going to continue with it. At least not on the 3-day schedule I initially intended.

Like I mentioned, I made the tea as suggested on the label and added it to some regular Lipton Tea. By the way, my niece sent me a comment that this can be made as a tea on its own (instead of adding it to another tea like the Liptons I used), but, oh well.

This is what the tea looks like with the Liptons:

I was going to make up at least a pint of the Miracle Tea with nothing else added and take a photo. But, as I said, I changed my mind about continuing my 3-day use. Once I read up on all the information about the ingredients, I realized that it's safer for me to do a "cleanse" by doing a 3-day all fruit and veggie routine. 

Understand that I'm not implying that the Miracle Tea is dangerous or anything but, for me, it makes more sense to stay away from the blend used in the tea. One of the reasons is that I think it's too powerful for me to drink more than a couple of times a day on an every-now-and-then basis. I realized this after I drank two 8-ounce servings yesterday.

The first serving of tea didn't really affect me. I started drinking it at about 8am and just sipped on it for an hour or so. I didn't want to gulp it down on an empty stomach. I'm not much of a breakfast person, but I did eat half a bagel with some strawberry and cream spread. After I finished the tea, I made sure to drink a 12-ounce bottle of water.

I started on the second serving of the tea sometime around 2pm. This time, I did just drink it in a shorter period of time (maybe 10 minutes), and I didn't eat anything. True to the claims, I did seem to feel very full. That's a good thing, right? I was full enough that I had to force myself to drink more another bottle of water.

By around 4pm, I felt like I had pigged out on a bread buffet. That "very full" feeling had intensified until it was uncomfortable. One of the reasons I rarely overeat is because I hate that stuffed, sickly feeling of a too-full belly.

I never did get to the third serving of the tea.

You know that feeling you get with an upset stomach where you wish you could expel something from one end or the other, just to get some relief? Well, that's the wish I was making before 7pm. It was all I could do not to snag some ipecac syrup.

When feeling full means not being hungry, that's a good thing. When feeling full means feeling sick-full that not a good thing.

Yeah, so...

Happily, when I woke up this morning, I felt much better. I wanted nothing to do with that tea. I drank a couple 16-ounce glasses of water throughout the morning and wasn't even tempted to eat. I didn't notice any unusual urge to use the bathroom either.

I paid too much for this tea to dump it all, but I'm going to save the unused tea bags for later (and for using in smaller amounts) if I can't give them away.  I don't know if it's just me or what but I didn't like the way the tea made me feel.

Since my intention was to clean out my system from some recent bad eating habits, I'm going to revert back to the fruit and veggie routine that I started when I was getting rid of my prednisone weight. Even though I don't have the weight issues anymore, that routine is one that I can maintain and enjoy. It's also one I can afford.

I told my niece about my experience with the tea and she can't understand it. She loves using the tea so far - though she isn't sure that she will be able to get through the whole gallon batch in a month. I did warn her about not letting her body get dependent on the tea and.... Well, just read the rest of this post.

I did promise a review of the Miracle Tea, so I'm going to include in this post what I came up with as far as information. For tomorrow's post, I'm going to detail the fruit and veggie routine I've used off and on.

BEFORE I NIXED THE TEA

Since I am using this mostly for its detoxifying effects, I wanted to see what some benefits of that might be. Of course, I suddenly start finding all kinds of information that suggests "detoxes" and "cleanses" might not be as beneficial as I've been led to believe. 

Oh boy.

Time for a bullet list!

• Bad news: There are some studies that suggest certain types of "cleanses" might do more harm than good. At best, some cleanses are simply unnecessary. The body, its noted, already does a good job of cleaning itself - colon included. Good news (linked from same article): "Some studies" support that certain remedies might benefit liver function.
• Bad news: This discussion among doctors seems to factually suggest that cleanses are unnecessary, but part of the discussion seems contradictory - in a way. When one doctor says that a pre-procedure (colonoscopy) purge is sufficient to clean out the stool, I wondered if an occasional "purge" isn't good for people who have never had a colonoscopy. Good news (maybe): The key word for me is "occasional". Of course, doing anything obsessively could be harmful. Most of the worst I'm hearing about these cleanses is for people who do them more often than needed and in lieu of eating a proper diet on a consistent basis.
• Bad news: Colonics (the kind I always pictured as being kind of, um, invasive, are not something I would ever do. Apparently, high colonics can cause tears and other damage to the intestines. If I ever had wanted to do a colonic, finding out how lightly regulated the industry is sure put that out of my head. Good news: Just like with any laxative, the trick is not to let your body become dependent on them. So, for myself, I'm still sticking with my occasional-is-okay line. (I am going to be warning my nieces about this since one of them uses her Miracle Tea on a regular basis...)
• Some general information and warnings on colon cleansing. (How I love WebMD!)

Basically, I'm realizing that using any kind of cleansing product should be done only occasionally and that a person must make sure to stay hydrated. 

As for the totally natural alternatives for a a healthy colon:

• Avoid these if you suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (I don't have IBS, but most of these foods irritate my bowels)
• About fibers and fluids. Good info here. Other than suggesting milk (which bothers my gut), I'm paying attention to what he's saying.
• Good and bad bacteria is a trending topic these days. Instead of buying all the probiotics (costly for the most part), here are some foods to use.
• And what's up with "good" and "bad" bacteria?
• And some more "good" and "bad" info (and sources for the good stuff)

So... I will finish this review up in a few days but, after that, I'm going to pull my blender out of hibernation and get back on my best nutrition game. My niece and nephew are going to hate me because my niece has been great about preparing full meals every night, but... I have to get this body of mine back into top shape. Losing all that predni-weight was hard, but it's no good being thin if I'm a mess nutritionally.

SUMMARY

Pros:

• This tea works fine for my one niece, who has been using it for a long time, and for another niece who just started using it. My experiences may be unique to me.
• The ingredients are noted for some positive benefits when used carefully and occasionally.
• Some users have given positive reviews of the product.

Cons:

• The tea made me feel bloated and over-full to the point of discomfort.
• It's very expensive & this is one of the few times I didn't check beforehand for a seller's return policy... (~slapping my own hand~)
• Some of the ingredients listed are repetitive and (so it seems) unnecessary.
• A person can get the same benefits more cheaply and more naturally with a good diet.

Basically, I can neither recommend or discourage use of the product based on what I know. I can just share what my experience was. I should have paid more attention to everything I researched before I even tried this tea. I am waiting now to hear back about the seller's refund policy. If there isn't one, I hope the standard Amazon return policy is satisfactory. I will let you know one way or another.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this mess. I won't be talking anymore about the tea, but I will be talking about a truly natural cleanse...

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Dr. Miller Miracle Tea (part 1 of 3)

This is one of the reviews that I will have to do in parts. First, I will talk about the product claims and general information. The second post will be about my results after some usage. Finally, I will post my overall experience after I've had time to evaluate my personal results.

So what product am I checking out this time? It's this:

That's Dr Miller Miracle Tea (I don't like calling it "Holy Tea", but I think the name comes from the ingredients, which are listed on the packets.

My niece told me about this tea, then another of my nieces decided to give it a try. I initially balked because of the price, then I realized I had a credit saved up that I could apply to my order. Still, it's not cheap at the full price so I'm going to be very interested in seeing if I can recommend it to anyone else.

To start off with, I am going to have to check with my nieces to see which strength tea they are using. When my one niece got hers in the mail the other day, she told me that the package had (her words here) "Stunk up my whole mailbox!" But when she actually brewed the tea, the smell wasn't bad at all and she liked the taste of it. She said that it even smelled good. Okay.

The second thing I did when I got my packets was to smell them. (First thing, I took photos.) The smell wasn't bad at all in my opinion. The scent is similar to black tea (or any other "regular" and unscented tea) so I don't know what my niece meant.

Oh, here are the packets with the ingredients:

From the product description page on Amazon: "A special blend of Malva leaves, Blessed Thistle, Holy Thistle, Milk Thistle, Marshmallow leaves and Persimmon Leaves." (my underline)

Of course, I wanted to know a bit more about each of those ingredients, so let's see...

• Malva Leaves - This stood out for me: "Malva sp. leaves have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea or externally as baths for treatment of disorders of the skin, gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract. "
• Blessed Thistle - WebMD points out that, among other things, people use it for "loss of appetite," but I always like to pay attention to the notes on warnings and interactions too. Wikipedia has some more info on the medicinal uses and the other name for it: Cnicus.
• Holy Thistle - This is strange because my usual sources show this as being the same as Blessed Thistle so I'm not sure why it's listed twice. At any rate, Wellness Mama cleared up the origin of the name.
• Milk Thistle - Once again, I see that this thistle (or silymarin) is about the same as the other two. What on earth??? I did notice that I see more mention of this as an aid for liver problems.
• Marshmallow leaves - Finally something new. The first uses I saw for this was for pain, swelling and inflammation. Also, the herb is supposed to provide a sense of being full.
• Persimmon Leaves - This one seems to be noted for relieving a strange range of issues, including pollen allergies, bruising and problems with immunity to colds. Okay. 

I suppose mixing the different herbs might have something to do with the benefits, but when I checked on some reviews, I saw that the tea acts basically as a laxative and there are no studies to back up the claims made for the product. On the other hand, my niece did tell me that what she noticed immediately is that she was suddenly very, um... regular. That's a good thing, I guess.

By the way, I was curious about this Dr. Miller. Not to be mean, but his webpage reminds me of the back of a cheap tabloid magazine. From the 70s. (I shouldn't have peeked because now I'm a little skeptical.)

The first niece - who turned us on to the tea - said that she and her husband use the tea every other month or so. They just mix up a gallon and drink it a few times a day until that gallon is gone. She claims that it does help her with the bloating and other effects of lapsing into bad eating habits. Okay.

I made my first batch tonight. I used regular Lipton tea and added the two bags of the Miracle Tea. Maybe it's the after-effects of my last cold, but I don't really smell anything extraordinary. It looks like regular old tea. Of course, it has to sit out overnight, so we'll see what it looks and smells like tomorrow.  I even talked my other niece into agreeing to trying it with me. 

I'm off to bed now. If this tea works the way it's supposed to, I need to rest up for all the exercise I'm going to get from running to the Ladies. LOL

I will post soon as I can (maybe tomorrow) on the taste and what, if any, effects I get with the first cups... So, stay tuned.

Peace
--Free