Green tea is now used in many health products globally; although primarily known for the benefits it provides as an antioxidant, it has many other positive health properties. As a liquid extract, green tea weight loss supplements can be drunk like regular tea but however you take it, you will burn calories more naturally. When used for extended periods it helps to re-generate human body cells and as a consequence actually slows down the normal aging process.
When used in weight loss products, it shows some amazing qualities like helping the metabolism by ridding the system of toxins and using the natural laxative quality it possesses. To help stop fatty tissue from forming, products using it increase the number of calories we burn by speeding our normal metabolic rate. The wonders of green tea weight loss health products will not work alone and require the commitment of the user to exercise and eat healthily. Many people seem to think that its use will solve all their weight problems but the fact you are taking the product implies you are trying to improve your health by eating more healthily.
When prepared as infusion, green tea should be used in the evening before going to bed. Although it may at first seem a little scary, it has a strange effect on the body and as a consequence the stomach and bowls may not work as they should while you become accustomed to it during the first few days. This is not something to be concerned about as it only normally affects someone who has never taken green tea weight loss products before and then because the tea is improving the body's metabolism. Indications that it is working can generally be seen within seven days of use providing other aspects of the diet are followed like drinking plenty of fluids combined with physical activity, fruit and vegetables.
The attributes of green tea can be further enhanced when it is used in combination with extracts from the root of ginseng. Used in Asia for thousands of years ginseng is well known and respected there and provides essential vitamins and minerals for good health when combined with those already found in the product. Getting back to a normal weight can be stressful but the addition of ginseng to the green tea helps provide extra energy and fortification by assisting the body's own immune system. Ginseng and green tea have an excellent safety record with people using them for up to six months without incident.
Tea and Cancer Prevention Tea drinking is an ancient tradition dating back 5,000 years in China and India. Long regarded in those cultures as an aid to good health, researchers now are studying tea for possible use in the prevention and treatment of a variety of cancers. Investigators are especially interested in the antioxidants-called catechins-found in tea.
1. What are antioxidants?
The human body constantly produces unstable molecules called oxidants, also commonly referred to as free radicals. To become stable, oxidants steal electrons from other molecules and, in the process, damage cell proteins and genetic material. This damage may leave the cell vulnerable to cancer. Antioxidants are substances that allow the human body to scavenge and seize oxidants. Like other antioxidants, the catechins found in tea selectively inhibit specific enzyme activities that lead to cancer. They may also target and repair DNA aberrations caused by oxidants (1).
2. What is the level of antioxidants found in tea?
All varieties of tea come from the leaves of a single evergreen plant, Camellia sinensis. All tea leaves are picked, rolled, dried, and heated. With the additional process of allowing the leaves to ferment and oxidize, black tea is produced. Possibly because it is less processed, green tea contains higher levels of antioxidants than black tea.
Although tea is consumed in a variety of ways and varies in its chemical makeup, one study showed steeping either green or black tea for about five minutes released over 80 percent of its catechins. Instant iced tea, on the other hand, contains negligible amounts of catechins (1).
3. What are the laboratory findings?
In the laboratory, studies have shown tea catechins act as powerful inhibitors of cancer growth in several ways: They scavenge oxidants before cell injuries occur, reduce the incidence and size of chemically induced tumors, and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. In studies of liver, skin and stomach cancer, chemically induced tumors were shown to decrease in size in mice that were fed green and black tea (1, 2).
4. What are the results of human studies?
Although tea has long been identified as an antioxidant in the laboratory, study results involving humans have been contradictory. Some epidemiological studies comparing tea drinkers to non-tea drinkers support the claim that drinking tea prevents cancer; others do not. Dietary, environmental, and population differences may account for these inconsistencies.
Two studies in China, where green tea is a mainstay of the diet, resulted in promising findings. One study involving over 18,000 men found tea drinkers were about half as likely to develop stomach or esophageal cancer as men who drank little tea, even after adjusting for smoking and other health and diet factors (3). A second study at the Beijing Dental Hospital found consuming 3 grams of tea a day, or about 2 cups, along with the application of a tea extract reduced the size and proliferation of leukoplakia, a precancerous oral plaque (1).
5. Is NCI evaluating tea?
National Cancer Institute (NCI) researchers are also investigating the therapeutic use of green tea. One recently completed but unpublished NCI trial studied the antitumor effect of green tea among prostate cancer patients. The 42 patients drank 6 grams of green tea, or about 4 cups, daily for four months. However, only one patient experienced a short-lived improvement, and nearly 70 percent of the group experienced unpleasant side effects such as nausea and diarrhea. The study concluded drinking green tea has limited antitumor benefit for prostate cancer patients (5).
Other ongoing NCI studies are testing green tea as a preventive agent against skin cancer. For example, one is investigating the protective effects of a pill form of green tea against sun-induced skin damage while another explores the topical application of green tea in shrinking precancerous skin changes.
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