The Health Benefits of Green Tea

Green tea has been known and brewed in China for its valuable medicinal benefits.  Since the earliest days, green tea has been used to cure diseases from a simple headache to even the worst form of depression.  

          Did you know that a bag of green tea contains zero calories and an estimated 0.06 mg of caffeine only?  And this is not the most amazing thing about green tea! Its power lies in its high level of catechin polyphenols, specifically epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).  EGCG are strong antioxidants.  It can hinder the growth of cancer cells by neutralizing them without destroying the surrounding healthy cells.  Green tea’s high EGCG content can be attributed to the way green teas are made.  The leaves are treated with heat (panfried, steamed, microwaved) inhibiting the fermentation process which causes EGCG to break down into other compounds.  A bag of green tea can have up to 80-100 mg of these potent antioxidants.  Recent studies show that EGCG has twice the benefits of resveratrol found in red wine.

          Green tea helps reduce high blood pressure by repressing the release of angiotensin IIs that causes it.  It also reduces blood sugar and helps prevent diabetes.  Due to its high polyphenol and flavanoid content, it boosts the human immune system 100 times more effective than vitamin C.  Theanine, a compound found in green tea enhances the ability of the white blood cells to fight infections that causes common diseases like colds, cough and flu.  Theanine also promotes relaxation of the body.  This compound is like alcohol, it has the capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier but without the adverse effect of intoxication.

Women would really be glad to know that latest researches show that green tea can help you loose weight.  Researchers found that persons who were given combination of green tea and caffeine extract burned more calories than those given caffeine or placebo only.  Green tea’s antioxidants speed up the body’s metabolism by eliminating damaging chemicals like hydrogen peroxide produced when food is broken down.  Therefore, the digestive enzymes can concentrate more in digesting food and turning it into energy.  You can also say goodbye to tooth decay as green tea can even help prevent it.  Its ability to destroy bacteria will sure be helpful in killing dental plaque not to mention that green tea is also rich in fluoride.

          More so, green tea can even help you remember the information from this article as one Japanese study shows that elderly people benefited cognitively from taking more than 2 cups of green tea a day.  So, the next time you are offered green tea.  Don’t think about it now that you know it is GREEN TEAliciously healthy!

Green Teas