ENTERPRISE — Millions of health-conscious consumers drink tea. In fact, it is second only to water as the most widely consumed beverage in the world.
Many Americans brew their teas from bags of black, oolong or green tea leaves in hot water, a method that may yield only a tiny fraction of the healthy components in green tea.
Sei Mee Tea in Enterprise offers Edible Green, a tea made from whole green tea leaves ground to a fine powder that can be added to hot water in the familiar way or added to foods as an herb.Sei Mee Tea, pronounced “Say Me Tea,’’ is a family business founded by Kiyomi Koike, who believes strongly that, “food is medicine.”
Kiyomi’s journey began several years ago when her husband, Bill, was diagnosed with cancer and given only a 50 percent chance of survival. With a 3-month-old baby and a toddler, Kiyomi was determined to do whatever she could to improve Bill’s chances. As a native of Japan, she knew well the medicinal qualities of green tea and urged him to drink 10 cups a day, the amount green tea advocates say is needed to get the healthy benefits. Kiyomi said she was quite disappointed when Bill told her he would rather die than drink the bitter-tasting tea, especially in the quantity she suggested.
Thus began her intense research to find a better way to provide the medicinal healing properties of green tea. She found Edible Green, a powder made from Sencha tea leaves and imported from Japan where it has been grown by certified organic farmers for more than 30 years. According to scientific studies at the University of Colorado, Sencha tea leaves contain the highest amounts of antioxidants among all green teas and less caffeine than the traditional matcha variety of tea, used in Japanese tea ceremonies.
According to Kiyomi’s research, Sencha tasted better and was more versatile than other green teas and, best of all, it was agreeable to her husband. He followed the regimen, and after using the tea for five years, his oncologist told him he was cancer free. That was in 2005. Today he’s still cancer free — and still drinking green tea.
Antioxidants, present in high quantities in the Sencha tea, neutralize free radicals in the body, which scientists suggest are responsible for cell damage, and may contribute to the aging process, heart disease and the occurrence of cancer.
For consumers who wish to limit the amount of caffeine they use, choosing Edible Green Decaf is not a compromise, Kiyomi said. Because of the decaffeination process of most other decaf green teas, most of the water-soluble antioxidants, vitamins and minerals is removed along with the caffeine. With Edible Green, the user consumes the whole tea leaves, not a diluted brew, and 95 percent of the antioxidants are preserved in the patented water process decaffeination, according to product information on the Edible Green website.
To maintain a healthy immune system, Kiyomi recommends two servings of Edible Green a day. One quarter teaspoon of the bright green powder constitutes a serving and can be ingested as a hot or cold drink or mixed with food as a dietary supplement.
For individuals battling a chronic disease, Dr. Paul Reilly, a naturopathic oncologist and director of naturopathic medicine at the Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center, and Dr. Dan Ostermiller at the Integrative Medicine Clinic at St. Luke’s Hospital in McCall, Idaho, recommend six servings a day, two hours apart. It is advised to consult with a doctor if an individual is taking prescribed medications.
Recipes that use Edible Green can be found on the company website, http://www.groundgreentea.com and include many possibilities such as Dave’s Biker Friendly Green Tea. It uses equal parts Edible Green green tea, apple juice and orange juice mixed well, over ice. This is a particularly smart choice, Kiyomi said, since the vitamin C in apple and orange juice enhances the antioxidant activity in the tea leaf powder.
A green tea smoothie can be made from one cup soy milk, one fourth teaspoon Edible Green, one tablespoon each coconut milk and sugar and a half cup crushed ice, well blended. Other recipes found on the website include Green Tea Chocolate Turtles, Green Tea Cheese Cake, Rosemary and Green Tea Cookies as well as dips and spreads on snack crackers and soup recipes.
Kiyomi said the organic farms that grow the Sencha tea are situated near Osaka, Japan, in the south part of the islands. The jet stream has not carried the contaminating effects of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant that was damaged in the recent earthquake to Osaka. She has been closely monitoring the conditions of the damaged plant, she said, and the updates are available on the website. In addition, she explained that the tea-growing season is from May to October so the tea she is using now was grown before the earthquake.
Edible Green is imported in bulk and then packaged and shipped with the help of two part-time employees to fill orders from hundreds of cities throughout the U.S. Kiyomi said 15 percent of the company’s dealers are professional health practitioners.
Edible Green is available in La Grande at Bella, Nature’s Pantry and from Denise Leidy ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). In Baker City it can be found at Bella, and in Pendleton at the Great Pacific Wine and Coffee Co. It is available in Enterprise from Flying Cloud Gifts, Ruby Peak Naturals, Gypsy Java and the Dollar Stretcher. In Joseph, Sei Mee Tea is available at Anton’s Home and Hearth, Bronze Antler B & B, Mt. Joseph Family Foods and Wildflour Bakery, and in Wallowa at the Blonde Strawberry.
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