Civilizations around the world have used natural herbs and plants to treat sickness and pain. The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression for at least 4,000 years.
All tea comes from a plant, Camellia sinensis. Green tea’s protection comes from a powerful antioxidant, a polyphenol called EGCG. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. Unlike black tea, green tea is not fermented, so its active ingredients remain unaltered.
Green tea provides more than 60 percent of the flavonoids available in the US diet. Flavonoids are plant compounds that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. They also modulate the destruction of cancer cells and support a healthy vascular system.
There is evidence showing that green tea can be effective in the prevention and treatment of certain types of cancer (gastric, esophageal and skin cancers). Aside from inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, EGCG also kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.
The positive affects of green tea are numerous and remarkable; preventing and treating high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, infection, and impaired immune function.
Green tea not only acts as an anti-inflammatory but is also an antiviral agent. It boosts metabolism, maintains a healthy circulatory system, and also aids digestion, to name a few additional benefits.
EGCG has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels (as well as improving the ratio of good and bad cholesterol), and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.
EGCG has been found to be twice as powerful as resveratrol, the polyphenol in red wine that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. That may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.
The antioxidant level of green tea is a hundred times more effective than vitamin C and twenty-five times better than vitamin E in protecting our immune systems.
Because our mouths are an oxygen-rich environment closely connected to our blood vessels, they provide an ideal habitat for the growth and rapid proliferation of cancer cells. Scientists have confirmed that green tea not only halts the growth of new oral cancer cells but it actually breaks down and kills existing oral cancer cells.
Ingredients in green tea may reduce the risk of getting dental cavities by reducing plaque formation and also reduce bacterial infections in the mouth.
Another benefit of green tea is that it stunts the growth of odor causing bacteria, thus helping you maintain fresh breath.
So, just how much green tea should we be drinking? To fully obtain the benefits, we should have at least four to six cups a day. And if you don’t want to drink it down, simply use it as a mouthwash.
Green tea has significantly lower levels of caffeine than coffee, and thus fewer associated side effects, such as anxiety and insomnia.
Are you sold yet? How soon before you go out and buy yourself some green tea?
This page provides information on health, fitness, diet and nutrition. It is intended to help you improve your wellness and everyday living, specifically through the means of regular exercise and healthy eating.
Sean is a freelance writer in Los Angeles. He has been working in the health and fitness business for a decade; training, teaching, lecturing, and consulting.
Sean is a freelance writer in Los Angeles. He has been working in the health and fitness business for a decade; training, teaching, lecturing, and consulting.
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Comments: 2
Maybe I'll make some for myself right now... Thanks for the idea Sean. ; )
Nice article, I always drink 3 to 4 cups of green thee a day.