Green tea is has become a daily favourite of mine in view of its awesome health virtues. Funny how something tastes better the healthier you think it is for you! So, what are the remarkable benefits of this auspicious drink?
Green tea has been found to promote weight loss, reduce the risk of heart attack, pevent against cancer, protect your teeth and gums and offer relief for arthritis. Not bad for a leaf! These traits are due to a super concentration of antioxidants called catechins known for their outstanding health traits.
Weight Loss Enhancement
Green tea can actually promote weight loss which makes it a very friendly cuppa if shedding pounds is the objective, and a great ally in any healthy weight loss regime.
A study led by Dr. Dulloo at the University of Geneva, published in the December 1999 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that men given a combination of both caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given caffeine or placebo alone.
Results found that the men taking green tea extract had a significant increase in their measured energy expenditure (the number of calories used in a 24 hour period) and significant decrease in their respiration quotient (how well the body utilized carbohydrates, proteins and fats over a 24 hour period) over those taking just caffeine or placebo. The men taking green tea extract also used more fat calories than the placebo group.
The scientists believed that the catechin flavonoids in the green tea extract (potent antioxidants) may alter the body's use of norepinephrine, a chemical transmitter in the nervous system, to increase the rate of calorie burning.
They concluded, ?Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se. The green tea extract may play a role in the control of body composition via sympathetic activation of thermogenesis, fat oxidation, or both.?
Pro Heart
The cholesterol-lowering effects of green tea and black tea have been confirmed in countless studies. The ?French Paradox?, namely the French high fat diet with comparably low rates of heart disease, is believed to be due to the flavonoid resveratrol found in wine.
In 1997, researchers from the University of Kansas found catachin EGCG in green tea to be twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why heart disease rates among Japanese men is quite low despite around 75 per cent of them being smokers.
In one 25 year study (the Zutphen Elderly Study; Hertog, M., et al., 1993), those that drank more than 8.5 ounces of tea per day had a much lower risk of experiencing or dying from heart attacks than those drinking less tea. Test tube studies have also found that green tea decreases the clumping of blood cells, reducing the risk of clotting associated with heart attacks and strokes.
Cancer Protective
Human and animal studies suggest green tea may be preventive against a variety of cancers including bladder, colon, esophageal, breast, pancreas, rectum, and stomach. In 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published a study that indicated drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent!
Aid For Arthritis
The anti-inflammatory action of green tea, due to its flavonoid content, has shown promise for arthritis relief. Research by scientists at Case Western University (Haqqi et al., 1999), suggests that green tea antioxidants serve to postpone the onset and decrease the severity of one type of arthritis in mice.
Tea for your Teeth
Green tea is touted for oral health by asian practitioners and recent scientific research supports this use. Studies in animals and humans have shown how green tea can effectively combat the bacteria that causes cavities in teeth. Green tea also contains fluoride that is protective for teeth.
Green tea is a fantastic health ally and a refreshing and cleansing drink. If purchased loose a few leaves can be added to other herbal teas for variety.
Well, it is. According to recent studies, when combined with sensible lifestyle changes green tea can help dieters lose weight, burn fat, increase metabolic rate and suppress their appetites.
Unlike black tea which is highly processed and fermented, green tea is made by slightly steaming the freshly gathered leaves, which prevents them from becoming fermented or changing color. After steaming, the leaves are dried by lightly pan frying them in a wok, baking them in an oven or heating them with hot air until they are crispy. The resulting beverage is a greenish-yellow tea with a slightly astringent flavor.
More and more often you'll find extracts of green tea being included in a lot of popular weight loss products today. One of the main reasons for this is because of one of green tea's chief ingredients. Polyphenols, which are responsible for the color of the leaves of some plants, are a group of substances found in green tea. These polyphenols benefit weight loss by helping the body to burn fat naturally by increasing body heat and energy expenditure.
Green tea also causes carbohydrates to be released slowly, preventing sharp increases in blood-insulin levels. This promotes the burning of fat.
Another of the main ingredients in green tea is antioxidants. Antioxidants are organic substances, like vitamins A, E and C which are thought to be effective in helping protect the body against the harmful effects of free radicals - which cause the destruction of living cells, cancer, stroke and heart disease. One of the most extraordinary characteristics about green tea is that studies have shown it is about 200 times more potent an antioxidant than Vitamin A, Vitamin C, E or curcumin in some instances. Additionally, just one cup of green tea has more antioxidant effect than a serving of strawberries, spinach or carrots.
Caffeine is another component in green tea which scientists think plays an important role in green tea's ability to help people lose weight. Green tea contains less caffeine than coffee. There are approximately 30 to 60 mg. of caffeine in 8 ounces of tea, compared to more than 100 mg. in 8 ounces of coffee.
Combined with Polyphenol compounds, caffeine in green tea acts as a stimulant to the body to help promote fat loss. In a recent study, participants taking green tea extract and still following normal diet experienced a significant increase in their energy expenditure.
The researchers concluded that participants using green tea extract had increased fat oxidation beyond what could be attributed to the caffeine they consumed.
This indicates that green tea contains beneficial components that affect the body's metabolism in such a way that favors weight loss. Additionally, scientists observed that participants in a study on green tea did not show any increase in heart rate, which suggests that green tea may be an excellent alternative to many stimulant-based diet aids.
If helping people to lose weight was not enough, green tea provides additional health benefits far and beyond weight loss, including:
Protects against Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's
Fights cavities and helps stop tooth decay and gum disease
Prevents osteoporosis
Protects against ovarian cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer and prostate cancer
Lowers cholesterol
Helps the body to fight viruses
Controls high blood pressure
Normalizes healthy bacteria in the intestines
Helps prevent heart disease
Thus far, no harmful side effects have been found in drinking green tea or taking green tea extract capsules. This makes green tea one of the best health supplements available for weight loss and overall health.
Both Sylvia Riley & Patricia Zelkovsky are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Sylvia Riley has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Aging and Fitness. MIRACLE SUPERFOODSNATURAL NUTRITION GUIDE FOR DOGS AND CATS. Sylvia Riley's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.
Patricia Zelkovsky has sinced written about articles on various topics from Hoodia, Low Carb Diet and Lose Weight. Patricia has been interested in health and fitness since the early 70's and knows how to seperate hype from fact.