Why Green Tea is Good For You

Green tea has long been a staple of Asian culture. The Chinese use green tea to treat various diseases and conditions, and they depend on it for long, healthy lives. So what exactly can green tea do for you? Read more to learn about this incredible beverage.

What is it?
Green tea is made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. It is picked, steamed, and then dried. It is unique because it does not undergo the oxidation (or fermentation) process that black, white, and other teas undergo.

What makes it so good for you?
It has powerful antioxidant properties due to the polyphenol chemicals it contains. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), in particular, is responsible for the health benefits that this tea can offer.

Cancer Fighter
The EGCG in the tea is a known cancer fighter. It both prevents the growth of cancer cells and kills them off, without harming healthy cells. Scientists also found that EGCG shuts down one of the key molecules that tobacco relies upon to cause cancer.

Heart Helper
Green tea improves the flexibility of your blood cells, which prevents clogging and makes for a healthier heart. It has also been found to prevent obesity, improve the ratio of good and bad cholesterol in your body, and help you burn more calories.

And Even More
In addition to fighting cancer, improving heart health, and preventing obesity, this tea is also suggested to prevent and reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Its anti-inflammatory properties can reduce joint damage in sufferers of the disease. What's more, it has been suggested that it can also boost the immune system and fight tooth decay. Talk about a wonder drink!

How Much Should I Drink?
Scientists still remain uncertain as to how much green tea needs to be consumed for someone to benefit from it. While some scientists say two is sufficient, others push three, four, or five glasses per day. It seems that when it comes to green tea, the more you can drink the better!

Kathryn Steed is a writer and editor for Recipe4Living.com, an ever-growing recipe sharing website. For more articles like this, or for a large collection of recipes, visit the site http://www.Recipe4Living.com

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Why Is Green Tea Good for You?

Have you ever experienced the pleasures of green tea? Maybe it's high time you did. Green tea is a kind of beverage that has lots of advantages. Firstly, it can be consumed both hot and cold, and as such contains a number of therapeutic effects. Secondly, it can be used either orally or can be put on skin as a lotion. Because of its various benefits it is an integral part of some vitamin tablets.

Its main advantages are related to improving health and prevention of some diseases. The tea helps people to lose weight and its indispensable ingredients are paramount in slowing down of the process of aging. Being rich in antioxidants it protects against harmful free radicals in the body, due to whose influence, condition of the skin is deteriorating more rapidly, and besides, they can also cause cancer and heart diseases. Recent studies have shown that green tea is highly effective in lowering cholesterol, reducing the chances of getting cancer, or even arthritis.

In addition to cleansing the body from toxins, green tea speeds up metabolism and helps burn more calories and fat. It also contains less caffeine than some other drinks, and includes vitamins A1, B2, B12, C, E, which are known to provide more energy. This beverage also abounds in minerals important for human health, (potassium, copper, iron and manganese). Apart from the fact that it prevents gaining fat, it functions as a diuretic as well, stimulating circulation, and thus, helping against cellulite.

Sportspeople can also experience some benefits of this beverage because it improves their physical activity, increases concentration, motivation and endurance. Polyphenol, the extract which can be obtained from leaves of green tea reduces the level of lipids, triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood, thus lowering the risk of blood circulatory diseases and arteriosclerosis.

As far as its external use is concerned, green tea can heal wounds, and its extract is especially popular in treating problems with skin, such as acne, dandruff, lice, burns and other. This tea is extremely useful if you want to have a gorgeous smile, because it is rich in fluorine, which prevents the damaging effects of bacteria in the mouth cavities and natural fluoride inhibits the creation of cavities in teeth.
The aroma of this soft green-colored drink and its sour taste influences people in a variety of ways: purifying, strengthening and finally, relaxing the whole body. There is no rule for consuming it, since this delicious drink can be drunk at any time a day or night.

Is there caffeine in this tea?
This tea does contain caffeine. One cup of it usually contains about 50 -100 mg of caffeine. Brewed green tea contains less caffeine than brewed black tea or coffee. If you are sensitive to the effects of caffeine, you should check the labels for caffeine content. Caution is highly recommended to patients who take anticoagulants. According to doctors and medicals, if consumed by these people, the tea might have some antagonistic effects, or even be slightly pernicious. Addition of milk in green tea can prevent the adverse effects of tannins. People who suffer from high blood pressure, insomnia, asthma, heart problems and so on, are suggested to consult their doctors first, in order to avoid possible problems.

Is green tea safe during pregnancy?
If not consumed in large doses, the tea will not cause any detrimental health effects. If you are pregnant, make sure you check with your physician before taking green tea powder. Caffeine may adversely result in low birth weight, particularly when caffeine consumption is greater than 100 mg daily.

Author: Ivan Gutic
Ivan Gutic is an analyst who works on how to live healthy. He has read and written a lot of articles about this topic and he has his own unique insight.

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