June 17, 2011
Green Tea Benefits 0
The Benefits of Drinking Green Tea
You’ve probably heard that drinking green tea is good for you and can bring many health benefits if it is consumed on a regular basis. Indeed the popularity of green tea has only been heightened in recent years thanks to celebrity endorsements and endless articles in magazines about how green tea can help you with anything from losing weight to preventing cancer. It was only a few months ago that Johnny Depp said he was drinking ‘gallons’ of green tea in a bid to lose weight for a part he was playing in a new film…
So what really are the benefits of drinking tea? Can it help you be more healthy and prevent common diseases or is it just another celebrity fad that the general public are jumping on?
First of all, let’s look at what green tea actually is. Green tea is made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. Following collection the leaves are either steamed or dry cooked to heat them up and crucially undergo minimal oxidization during processing. Unlike other types of tea, green tea is not fermented, therefore the active constituents in the herb are not affected. It is said that this unique process of making green tea brings many benefits and makes the tea extremely good for your health. Many of the benefits are said to come from polyphenols, commonly known as flavanols or catechins, of which green tea contains many.
Green tea originates from China, where it has been drunk for thousands of years, and it is particularly popular in areas such as Asia and the Middle East. In Western cultures, black tea has traditionally dominated the market, however more and more people are now turning to drinking green tea because of the reported health benefits and its increasing availability.
In recent years various studies and pieces of research have been conducted in order to find out more about the claimed benefits of drinking green tea.
Some of the main benefits of drinking green tea are discussed below:
Drinking green tea boosts your immune system and can help to lower your risk of diseases such as cancer and heart disease
Green tea contains catechins, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is a powerful antioxidant compound. This benefits the immune system and may help to prevent heart disease, stop cancer cells from growing and slows the ageing process.
Many studies have looked at how green tea affects cancerous cells, with some research suggesting it can help to stop cells from developing cancer. One study looked at the diets of 2,018 women and found that by eating mushrooms and drinking tea there was a 90% lower occurrence of breast cancer. Another study of 500 women who had breast cancer in Japan found that increasing green tea consumption lowered the risk of the cancer reoccurring, whilst another analytical study concluded that drinking two cups of green tea each day can reduce your risk of developing lung cancer by 18%. Other studies have found no link, but as you can see there is some evidence to suggest that it can help.
Drinking green tea can help with weight loss
It is said that drinking green tea can help in weight loss because it helps to boost your metabolism and burns fat. Look at the ingredients contained in many diet pills and you’ll often see ‘green tea’ or ‘green tea extract’ listed as one of them. Indeed there are many sources to suggest that drinking green tea can benefit weight loss. One study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition for example found that green tea activates thermogenic fat-burning activity in your body. Another study looked at the effect of taking a diet pill containing green tea versus taking a placebo. It found that after two weeks the women taking the diet pill had lost almost double the amount of weight as those taking the placebo and continuing to diet in the usual way.
Drinking green tea can prevent tooth decay
Green tea is even said to help in preventing tooth decay – and promote healthy teeth and gums. It has the ability to kill the bacteria which causes dental plaque and even bacteria which is known to cause throat infections and viruses. A recent study in Japan concluded that “green tea extract strongly inhibits various microorganisms, which occur in the mouth and contribute to tooth decay.”
Are there any harmful effects that come from drinking green tea?
The only known side effect produced by green tea is insomnia as it contains caffeine. It is however worth pointing out that green tea contains less caffeine than coffee and thus doesn’t provide too many worries in this area. A good piece of advice is to simply limit the number of cups of green tea you consume each day. A cup in the morning and another in the afternoon will enable you to take advantage of the many benefits of drinking green tea without any side effects.
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