For thousands of years, green tea has been used as medicine, originating from China but widely used in Asia. This beverage has a number of uses from preventing cancer to lowering blood pressure. The reason green tea has more health benefits than black tea is because of its processing in which the tea retains maximum amount of ploy-phenols and antioxidants. These are the substances that give green tea its benefits. Here is a list of some of its amazing benefits which you probably wouldn’t know.
- Apparently green tea helps in glucose regulation slowing the rise in levels of blood sugar. This in turn can prevent high sugar spikes.
- Weight loss. Green tea increases the rate of metabolism in your body. The polyphenol component found in green tea works to increase levels of fat oxidation and the rate of your body’s food to calories conversion.
- Green tea reduces blood cholesterol that is harmful and improves on the good to bad cholesterol ratio.
- Heart disease. Scientists have the notion that green tea works on the blood vessel lining, helping them stay relaxed and have the ability to withstand changes in blood pressure. It may also prevent clot formation which is the primary cause of heart attacks.
- Esophageal Cancer. It is widely thought to kill cancer cells without damaging the healthy tissue around them.
- Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Green tea is said to delay the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s deterioration. Studies carried out on mice show that green tea protects and restores brain cells.
- Tooth decay. Studies show that the chemical antioxidant “catechin” in green tea can destroy viruses and bacteria that cause dental caries and throat infections.
- Green tea can apparently help the sign of aging e.g. wrinkles. Both human and animal studies have shown that when green tea is applied to the skin, it reduces damage caused by the sun’s rays.
- Green tea contains theanine which is an amino acid which provides a tranquilizing and relaxing effect.
- Anti-bacterial. Green tea also contains tea catechins which are strong antibacterial agents which makes tea effective in treating most diseases from cancer to influenza.
These are some of the abundant gains of taking green tea though in reality, a cup of green tea a day will not give you all these. There are different views on how many cups one should take; some say as much as five cups a day, others say as little cups- and even more you can drink up to ten cups in a single day. If you are thinking of drinking tea as a routine, you may consider taking a supplement of green tea. Another thing to note is that green tea contains caffeine and so if you are sensitive to caffeine then one cup should be the limit. Also, green tea contains tannins which can decrease iron absorption and so if you are pregnant green tea may not be ideal for you. You can also mix green tea with other healthy ingredients like ginger.
