Green Tea Health Benefits

Green Tea is an ancient beverage, and has many health benefits. The Chinese have utilized its medicinal properties for over 4,000 years, using it to cure anything from simple headaches to depression. Modern research suggests that, as the Chinese believed, there are many benefits that come from drinking green tea regularly.

 

What makes green tea so healthy is the powerful antioxidants it contains, called epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. Antioxidants prevent potentially dangerous chemical reactions from occurring in the body by absorbing highly reactive free radical chemicals. While leaving healthy cells alone, EGCG can efficiently destroy cancerous cells of many types. One of the big health benefits that comes from drinking green tea is cancer prevention, including the cancers of bladder, colon, esophagus, liver, lungs, pancreas, prostate, and stomach.

 

Green tea can also decrease the harmful effects of alcohol and smoke toxins on the liver. Although 75% of Japanese men smoke, they have a very low rate of lung cancer, which may be associated with their high level of green tea consumption.

 

Green tea also has positive effects on oral health. It naturally contains fluoride, and slows tooth decay by killing off dental plaque. It has long been said in places like China that oral health is one of the benefits of green tea, and there is now scientific evidence for that fact.

 

There is also evidence that green tea prevents cardiovascular disease. It releases chemicals into the bloodstream that inhibit abnormal blood clotting. Blood clotting is one of the precursors to a heart-attack.

 

Lowering bad cholesterol, strengthening an impaired immune system, and helping rheumatoid arthritis are some of the other purported health benefits of green tea. As you can see, enjoying a few cups of this ancient drink a day can yield many returns in health for years to come.

  

A more in-depth article on green tea health benefits.