The Health Benefits Of Green Tea
Green tea is a natural product that can improve your health. If you don’t drink it, you should consider adding green tea to your diet. Read all about the many health benefits of green tea.
Reaping the Benefits of Green Tea
There’s plenty of evidence to support that green tea is one of the healthiest drinks available. Check out six ways in which green tea can improve your health:
1. Reduce Inflammation and Cellular Damage
Green tea is so much more than just a "drink". When you buy a good quality green tea, you get some plant byproducts as well. Specifically, you get polyphenols. Your body uses polyphenols to reduce inflammation and combat cancer.
Approximately 30% of green tea is polyphenols. One of the most common polyphenols in your tea is EGCG. As a natural antioxidant, EGCG can limit cell damage and improve your health in multiple ways.
To accomplish this, the EGCG prevents too many free radicals from forming. Free radicals usually cause cellular damage, which can cause aging and certain diseases. By reducing free radicals, EGCG improves your overall health.
2. Improve Brain Function
Did you know that drinking green tea can make you smarter? At the very least, it can improve your brain function.
One of the benefits of green tea is its ability to stimulate your brain. Much like coffee, an active ingredient of green tea is caffeine. However, unlike coffee, green tea does not have so much caffeine that it causes some of the unappealing side effects, like jitters.
How does this make you smarter? Caffeine blocks Adenosine, an inhibitor of neurotransmitter in your brain. By doing so, caffeine increases the speed of your neurons. It also boosts the concentration of neurotransmitters.
In addition to helping your brain work more quickly and efficiently, caffeine can also improve your mood, memory, and reaction time1. Drinking green tea is a natural way to help your brain function.
Another component of green tea is L-theanine. An amino acid, L-theanine boosts the actions of GABA (an inhibitory neurotransmitter). By doing so, L-theanine fights anxiety. The amino acid also increases the number of alpha waves your brain produces.
When caffeine and L-theanine work together, the result is a brain that works better than usual. It’s a winning combination that comes with minimal side effects.
3. Burn Fat
One of the more well-known health benefits of green tea is its fat burning potential. Green tea is in many fat burners sold by supplement companies.
In multiple research studies, scientists confirmed that green tea could boost your metabolism and burn more fat. One study looked at the effect of green tea on ten men of good health. In that study, energy output rose by 4%2. Although that might not seem like a considerable increase, it’s enough of a change for you to notice a difference.
The caffeine in green tea can also help you burn fat. To accomplish this, the caffeine moves fatty acid from your fat tissue and converts them to usable energy.
Not all studies agree that green tea can help you burn fat. However, there is enough evidence to make it a good choice for weight loss.
4. Reduce Your Risk of Cancer
There are several possible causes of cancer. One of those causes is uncontrolled cellular growth. As one of the leading causes of death in the US, cancer is a ruthless killer. According to experts, there will be about 609,640 cancer deaths in the US by the end of 20183.
The benefits of green tea can make all the difference. Antioxidants fight oxidative damage, which can cause cancer. For that reason, green tea is a powerful agent in cancer prevention. It contains a variety of antioxidants that keep your body safe.
In one study, men who drank green tea had a 48% smaller risk of prostate cancer than those who did not4. It’s also likely that green tea reduces the risk of colorectal cancer and several other types of cancer.
5. Prevent Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
As you age, your brain becomes vulnerable. You could develop troubling conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Fortunately, green tea can provide your brain with some level of protection.
Both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s affect your neurons. As neurodegenerative diseases, they prevent your brain from working the way it should. Parkinson’s kills off the neurons in your brain that produce dopamine.
However, the compounds in green tea protect your neurons. In scientific studies, the catechins in green tea protected neurons from damage. This lowers your risk of developing Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.
6. Prevent Infections
Every day, bacteria and viruses assault your body. Sometimes, your body can stave off the invaders. But other times, it’s just not strong enough to protect you.
Green tea can help your body defend you from bacteria and viruses. In that way, it can prevent illness and infection5.
Consider the harmful bacteria known as streptococcus mutans can be found in your mouth and cause tooth decay. Green tea prevents the bacteria from growing. By drinking some green tea, you can limit your chance of cavities. As an added benefit, killing off bacteria can improve your breath.
Tips for Making the Most of the Benefits of Green Tea
If you want to reap all the benefits of green tea, there are a few things you should know. First, you should try to drink green tea regularly. Drinking it occasionally can help. However, drinking it regularly allows you experience even more benefits.
You should also avoid drinking your green tea with milk. Many of the health benefits for the tea come from its antioxidants. But some research shows that milk could limit the value of the antioxidants6.
Finally, you should seek out a high-quality green tea. Some teas are more potent and natural than others. As you search for green tea, consider the potency of the tea. Look for a recommended brand that makes a quality product.
Green Immuni-tea: Bolster immunity by adding an extra scoop of our Organic Raw Greens Powder in a glass of iced (or not hot) green tea to help make your body a considerably less hospitable environment for cold viruses and bad bacteria to take hold.
References: 1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2007.00665.x, The impact of caffeine on mood, cognitive function, performance and hydration: a review of benefits and risks, February 13, 2008 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10584049, Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans, 1999 Dec;70(6):1040-5. 3. https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/facts-and-figures-2018-rate-of-deaths-from-cancer-continues-decline.html, Facts & Figures 2018: Rate of Deaths From Cancer Continues Decline, Jan 4, 2018 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17906295, Green tea consumption and prostate cancer risk in Japanese men: a prospective study, 2008 Jan 1;167(1):71-7. Epub 2007 Sep 29 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23072320, Anti-infective properties of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a component of green tea, 2013 Mar;168(5):1059-73. doi: 10.1111/bph.12009. 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20116655, Addition of whole, semiskimmed, and skimmed bovine milk reduces the total antioxidant capacity of black tea, 2010 Jan;30(1):14-20. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2009.11.005