Green Tea, originally from China, is truly a miracle beverage for that sounds like the solution for everything, a glowing skin, better immunity, great metabolism, but most commonly known benefits of green tea is the benefit of helping lose weight. While that definitely holds true, green tea has a whole lot of other benefits as well that you must know about. Green tea has been used as a medicine for thousands of years, originating in China, but widely used throughout Asia this beverage has a multitude of uses from lowering blood pressure to preventing cancer. The reason that green tea has more health benefits attached to it than black tea is due to the processing. Black tea is processed in a way that allows for fermentation whereas green tea’s processing avoids the fermentation process. Green tea doesn't oxidize (which is how black and oolong teas are made), so it contains more health-boosting antioxidants called catechins—especially the cancer fighter epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). As a result, green tea retains the maximum amount of antioxidants and poly-phenols the substances that give green tea its many benefits.
- Not only can green tea improve brain function in the short term, it may also protect your brain in old age.Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease in humans and a leading cause of dementia.Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and involves the death of dopamine producing neurons in the brain.Multiple studies show that the catechin compounds in green tea can have various protective effects on neurons, potentially preventing these diseases.
- Green tea reduces bad cholesterol in the blood and improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.
- It is said to delay the deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Studies carried out on mice showed that green tea protected brain cells from dying and restored damaged brain cells.
- Green tea increases the metabolism. The polyphenol found in green tea works to intensify levels of fat oxidation and the rate at which your body turns food into calories.
- Green tea helps regulate glucose levels, slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating. This can prevent high insulin spikes and resulting fat storage.
- Green tea does more than just keep you awake, it can also make you smarter. The key active ingredient is caffeine, which is a known stimulant. It doesn’t contain as much as coffee, but enough to produce a response without causing the “jittery” effects associated with too much caffeine. What caffeine does in the brain is to block an inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine. This way, it actually increases the firing of neurons and the concentration of neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine Caffeine has been intensively studied before and consistently leads to improvements in various aspects of brain function, including improved mood, vigilance, reaction time and memory.
- Green tea can also help with wrinkles and the signs of aging. This is because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Both animal and human studies have demonstrated that green tea applied topically can reduce sun damage.
- Studies suggest that the chemical antioxidant “catechin” in tea can destroy bacteria and viruses that cause throat infections, dental caries and other dental conditions.
- Theanine is an amino acid naturally found in green tea. It is this substance that is thought to provide a relaxing and tranquilizing effect and be a great benefit to tea drinkers.
- Regular consumption of green tea is thought to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.
- It can reduce the risk of esophageal cancer, and it is also widely thought to kill cancer cells in general without damaging the healthy tissue around them.
Green tea must be consumed 4-5 times in a day in order to enjoy all the incredible health benefits it has to offer. Also, green tea is a suitable beverage all the year round and can be enjoyed in all seasons.
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