The Many Benefits of Green Tea
Now is the time to give your health a boost!
Growing up in South America we lived off the land. Visits to the doctor were minimal on the best of times.
If you were dying, maybe they would take you to the hospital, maybe. Herbal teas were everything. My grandma would send us outside to pick herbs for a specific use.
Green tea was among the many teas we drank.
I grew up drinking teas. In Guyana formerly a British colony, we were raised under British customs — drinking tea among many such customs.
Though I grew up drinking teas, green, black, and herbal, I secretly adored the smell of coffee. Once I traveled to North America, I began an open avid love affair with coffee. I am slowly separating myself from that addiction.
Green tea enters the love affair.
Though I had a strong attraction to coffee, I sometimes cheated with green tea. As I entered a new phase of life “getting older” I began a quest to become healthier. I consciously began drinking an increased amount of green tea while slowly weaning myself off coffee.
Green tea is a great way to start your day. Among its many benefits are increased mental alertness and weight loss. So instead of reaching for that cuppa coffee, like I do, why not choose a cup of green tea instead.
Where do we get green tea from?
Harvested from the Camellia sinensis plant, green tea boasts four bioactive compounds called catechins. Tea is rich in polyphenols, that act as antioxidants.
Antioxidants can neutralize harmful free radicals that would otherwise damage your cells and increase your risk of conditions like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
Catechins are compounds that prevent oxidative stress and inflammation and are part of a family of compounds known as flavonoids. Green tea also contains small amounts of minerals that are very beneficial to your health.
The consciousness awakens
Here I am at this point in life realizing that to remain healthy and self-sufficient in my older years — I need to change NOW!
Enter green tea and it’s many health benefits.
My friend, a woman in her 60’s, from China and myself, are among the few persons at our workplace that currently drink teas. She has been drinking tea her whole life.
She is energetic, flexible, and nimble as a young girl.
She usually has a plethora of actual unrefined green and black and other tea leaves and since she knows how much I love teas, she brings enough tea for two.
Many cultures have been drinking and enjoying the benefits of tea. Avid tea lovers have been partaking of its goodness for eons. We have been missing the boat!
Its many benefits include:
- Helping with minor headaches
- Used to prevent cancer
- Weight loss
- Increased energy and alertness
- Lower cholesterol
- Lower blood pressure
- Oral hygiene
- Lower risk of stroke by protecting our brains
- Lowers uric acid (gout)
- Regulates blood glucose
Green tea for weight loss
Green tea as a fat burner is quite popular. Due to a property contained in green tea in very high concentrations called polyphenols (antioxidant properties that protect us from various diseases).
This compound helps to utilize fat via a process called thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is the process of producing heat as a byproduct of cellular metabolism (i.e. the rate at which our bodies process and utilizes calories).
Green tea causes an increase in the amount of energy expenditure which in turn increases our metabolism. Drinking teas, especially the unsweetened version or even with honey is a healthier option.
Coffee as the morning beverage of choice results in a higher amount of daily calories and fewer health benefits as compared to green tea.
A substitution of green tea instead of reaching for a cup of caffeine will cumulatively make a big difference in the size of your waistline. Studies show you can burn 75–100 additional calories if you consume three to five cups of green tea each day.
Mental alertness
Studies show that green tea contains caffeine and L-theanine. These two compounds work together for better health benefits.
Caffeine works on the brain by blocking adenosine which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, (adenosine is a cellular currency responsible for metabolism).
By blocking adenosine, caffeine increases the firing of neurons and the concentration of neurotransmitters like dopamine (used by the nervous system to transmit messages via the neurons), and norepinephrine aka noradrenaline, (helps focus, concentration, breakdown of sugars, fats, sleep/wake, memory and so much more, but I digress), together they help us strive and focus, increasing mental alertness.
The combination of these can potentiate improved cognitive function.
Green tea in the prevention of cancer
The antioxidants present in green tea helps to eradicate free radicals responsible for premature aging and cancers.
These clever compounds (polyphenols) constantly seek out the free radicals and prevent them from binding to oxygen atoms thereby preventing the dreaded oxidation.
This oxidation damages healthy cells of the body and has been linked to illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and even strokes. Polyphenols help prevent inflammation and abnormal growth of cells preventing them from becoming cancerous.
Green tea and oral health
Green tea contains fluoride, a key element in the protection and prevention of cavities. Fluoride also destroys plaque-causing bacteria in the mouth, improving oral health.
The catechins present in green tea may suppress oral bacterial growth and suppress streptococcus mutants the culprit in plaque formation in our mouths.
Oral health can be greatly improved with the regular consumption of green tea.
Green tea lowers cholesterol
Green tea helps with lowering bad cholesterol (LDL). The LDL cholesterol can accumulate on arterial walls placing us at risk for strokes and heart attacks.
The catechins in green tea help to decrease the amount of bad cholesterol. Also, the catechins help to maintain a healthy good to bad cholesterol ratio improving overall health.
How much green tea to drink
Although variations exist, no two people will respond in like manner to the same stimuli, the recommendation is three to five cups to receive health benefits.
In moderation, green tea seems safe and effective for most. If pregnant or nursing consult your primary caregiver.
Conclusion
Green tea helps to increase alertness and mental performance. It may lower cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and weight loss. It may also protect the brain and lower the chance of stroke or certain kinds of infection.
The use of green tea can help with oral health problems and with lowering uric acid levels in the blood (helping those afflicted with gout).
Green tea extract can be taken in the form of pills for those who do not like the taste. No matter the method of consumption, you would still access its many health benefits.
It helps with glucose control and longevity.
So, perhaps you will begin your daily green tea regimen tomorrow!
Caution: May cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), keep hard candies, glucose, or juice on hand in the event of low blood sugar.
Note
- Always check with your doctor before you use any new medications or natural products. Some products may not be compatible with other medications or even with natural products.
- Green tea reduces the effectiveness of some medications and may increase the side effects of others.
- Contains caffeine.
- Please talk with your doctor before you start using this product.
