What is the fuss about green tea? It is in your scrub, your cream and shampoo these days! The girls in your office probably sips on it all day and a health article without green tea mentioned is incomplete.
From it’s potential as a cancer cure and fighting off heart disease to lowering cholesterol, burning fat, preventing diabetes and strokes – green tea has a lot of use in a healthy, balanced diet. Green tea is made using the leaves of the Chinese Camellia sinensis plant that are then applied to heat quickly after picking, either by steam or by dry cooking in hot pans. These methods minimizes oxidation, which is what is thought to give the green tea benefits we have heard so much about.
The majority of green tea benefits seem to stem from the powerful antioxidants, called catechins, which scavenge your cells for free radicals that could otherwise damage DNA, and contribute to cancer, blocked arteries and blood clots. Because of the minimal processing – leaves are steamed instead of fermented – green tea catechins are unique and contain a more concentrated form of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is the active ingredient that many studies have highlighted as the driving force behind green tea benefits.
Daily consumption of green tea lowers your cholesterol levels and also cancer risk! It also prevents cardiovascular disease. A Japanese study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed significant reductions in deaths from cardiovascular disease among green tea drinkers. The study found that over an 11 year test period, individuals who drank more than 5 cups per day had a 16% less chance of mortality and mortality related to cardiovascular disease when compared to individuals who drank less than one cup per day.
Green tea is also said to boost weight loss and it the beverage of choice for those trying to lose weight, and the fact it boost your immune system means it helps to banish any minor illness such as flu.
If you have been battling acne, maybe squeezing in a glass or two of green tea in your daily diet might be beneficial. With the antioxidant it comes with, it promotes a better skin health too, meaning less wrinkle and more suppleness!
You can also add lemon or honey to your green tea for added taste but we love our green tea the way it is. Remember, with all the health benefit that comes with it, the taste is almost too good to be true ladies!
